


Twelve Days of Christmas

by heytheregisela



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: 12 Days, 12 Days of Christmas, Christmas, Fluff, M/M, RageHappy, one shots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-13
Updated: 2014-12-24
Packaged: 2018-03-01 08:28:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 21,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2766386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heytheregisela/pseuds/heytheregisela
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A compilation of different mini Christmas stories, from Michael and Gavin decorating a tree while listening to some carols, to Geoff giving his boyfriends peppermint kisses, and to Joel and Ray on a road trip, attempting to get home by Christmas eve. Basically, just a bunch of cute ships being cute. Oh, and hey, there's even one about someone drunk caroling outside someone else's window. Ah, the holidays.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Let's Start This Off Right

**Author's Note:**

> So, yeah, basically a different ragehappy ship each chapter, but I won't lie, it's almost mostly Mavin. Thank you again to everyone who sent in a prompt!! I hope you all enjoy the first one. This first one is Mavin.

At first, Gavin didn't seem at all that interested in the holidays or about getting his new apartment with Michael decorated. If Michael was being honest, he was relieved about that. Sure he liked the way a living room would look with the tree up and a few other Christmas decorations around the place, but he hated the idea of actually _putting_ them there, and then having to put them away after December. He really didn't see the point in all of that and yeah, at first, he was glad that it looked like Gavin didn't either. That was, until they went over to Ray's place for a nice movie night and saw that Ray actually had a tree up and almost everything around decorated.

“Getting in the Holiday spirit?” Michael asked as he walked passed the tree on his way to the couch.

“Yeah, but I won't take all the credit for how it looks, because I had _plenty_ of help,” Ray answered. Gavin laughed a little and helped himself to a handful of popcorn that was in the bowl on Ray's lap.

“What about you two?” Ray then asked, looking back and forth between the two sitting on either side of him.

Michael was reaching for some popcorn as well when that question was asked, so he paused and looked at Ray.

“Nah,” Gavin replied, a bit meekly. “Not this year.” Michael raised his eyebrows at that response. Not this year? Implying that he did want a tree then, right? Yes, it did mean that, and it dawned on Michael that Gavin hadn't said anything about the decorations because he didn't want to bother Michael with all of that. The poor guy was probably hoping Michael would bring it up on his own.

As Ray started the movie, Michael sat back and started thinking of the best places he could go to get a tree, the decorations, and all that stuff needed to make a home feel, well, like Ray's currently did – warm and filled with holiday cheer. Putting together the ideas in his mind made Michael start grinning and he didn't even notice it until Ray turned his head and raised an eyebrow at him. Michael decided it would be okay to let him know his little plan.

He leaned forward and whispered into his ear, “I'm gonna surprise Gavin by buying a bunch of Christmas crap. I might need your help.”

Ray smirked and nodded, giving Michael a thumbs up that Gavin couldn't see and the two went back to watching the movie. Gavin didn't suspect a thing.

A few days later, Ray went with Michael to get the tree, which turned into an almost angry disaster when they couldn't decide which one fit best.

“What about that one?”

“No, that one is too fucking big. We wouldn't even be able to put a stupid star on top!”

“Oh, that one?”

“Fuck no. I was thinking more of that one over there?”

“Man, that one looks like it gave up on Christmas a long time ago.”

Finally, they had someone who worked there to help them select the “perfect” tree, much to Ray's relief, because he didn't know he could handle another hour of complaints and yells from Michael. After the tree, they headed for the store to buy as many ornaments and whatever other nonsense decorations they could find to put on the tree. Ray suggested going with a specific theme, but Michael really didn't mind about that and ended up buying decorations of all kinds and colors. When that was all done and over with, Michael drove Ray back to his place before going home. Gavin wasn't supposed to be home for another few hours since he was busy doing something at Geoff's (part of Michael's plan). Michael took the remaining time to get the tree into the house along with the bags and bags of Christmas stuff. He had it all piled up in one corner of the room and sat on the couch while he waited for a certain British guy to come walking in. Maybe around a half an hour later, the door opened and Gavin grinned at him.

“How was it?” Michael asked, trying to stay casual because he wanted Gavin to notice the things on his own.

Gavin was much too oblivious, but as he stepped closer to Michael, the tree caught his attention from the corner of his eye and he turned his head. Michael watched as Gavin's eyes lit up and his lips parted.

“W-what?” Gavin asked, his tone breathy as he pointed a finger towards everything.

“Hey, I know you might be tired from working all day, but I thought it'd be nice if we could spend the next hour, or however long this will take, to put our tree up,” Michael told him, smiling slightly, but his smile widened when he saw Gavin grinning again.

“How did you know I wanted a tree?”

“I didn't at first, to be honest, but when I heard the way you answered Ray about us not having a tree this year, well, it clicked.”

Gavin let out a soft laugh and shook his head before leaning down to place a quick kiss on Michael's head. He hurried over to the corner and Michael got up to follow.

“This tree looks fantastic,” Gavin said as he started to unwrap it.

“Yeah, no thanks to Ray or me,” Michael mumbled to himself, and luckily, Gavin didn't hear. He started to help put the tree up and standing where they wanted it and then proceeded to taking out everything from the bags. Putting all this away after Christmas was going to be annoying, but the fact that it was the cause of that smile on Gavin's face, it was worth it.

“Okay, so I got every color ornament I could find that were nice, because I didn't know if you wanted a _theme_ or something,” Michael explained, holding up a few boxes containing some of the said ornaments. Gavin took them from him, looking down at them in admiration.

“We'll just put as much as we can of them up,” Gavin replied, “I don't care about a bloody theme.”

“A bloody theme for Christmas _would_ be interesting, though,” Michael commented, laughing a little when Gavin glared at him.

Gavin opened up the boxes and went back to smiling as he began placing ornaments around the tree. Michael pulled out one of the silver garlands and carefully threw it around the tree, because he wasn't sure if there was supposed to be an order to putting things on, but as long as everything was on there, he figured it didn't matter. Although, he almost tangled himself and Gavin in that garland one too many times, and the fourth time he did so, Gavin laughed.

“Okay, so apparently this is too difficult for me,” Michael said before sighing.

“Are you sure you aren't doing this on purpose?” Gavin asked, getting even closer to Michael. “I think silver looks nice on you.” Michael rolled his eyes, but when he tried speaking, he was cut off by lips on his. Gavin abruptly pulled away just as Michael was kissing back, leaving Michael standing there with furrowed eyebrows and a frown.

“You know what would make all of this even better?” Gavin asked, untangling himself from the garland.

“Oh, god... what?”

“Don't sound so terrified! It's not a bad thing,” but the closer Gavin got to his phone, the more Michael was starting to realize what he was going to do.

“Gav, look... carols are cool and all, but I-” It was no use, though, because Michael was interrupted by “Deck the Halls” beginning to play. “At least you didn't pick one I didn't know.”

“Come on, Michael,” Gavin said as he put his phone down on the coffee table and made his way back over to the tree, “Sing with me.”

“You want me to _sing_?”

“Yes!”

“Yeah, I'm not doing that,” Michael simply answered as he looked at the tree and finished wrapping the garland around it, this time, without any trouble. 

Gavin shrugged and proceeded to putting on more ornaments, but he was moving his hips a bit as he did so. Michael looked at him and shook his head, although, he was smiling at the sight. Carol after carol played as the tree slowly got filler by Michael and Gavin sticking anything they could grab out of the bags. It was really looking like a mess on the tree, but they were both satisfied and continued to have fun with it. 

And then “Jingle Bell Rock” was the next song to play.

Michael didn't even catch himself, because he was distracted by putting on the lights now, but he was actually singing along. 

“What a bright time, it's the right time, to rock the night away. Jingle bell time is a swell time to go gliding in a one-horse sleigh,” he was starting to get into it, too, because his voice starting getting higher like he was genuinely trying to sing with the same passion as the singers in the song were. “Giddy-up, jingle horse, pick up your feet. Jingle _around_ the cloooooock, mix and a-mingle in the jingling beat,” at this point, Michael was full aware that he was singing and how loud he was, but he was too into it to care, “That's the jingle bell, _that's_ the jingle bell, that's the jingle bell rooooooooock!”

Gavin was covering his mouth, trying his best to hide his smile, but he didn't he ever heard or seen something more adorable. Michael cleared his throat and scratched the back of his neck.

“I like that one,” he said softly. 

“Michael, I wish I could make fun of you and say you sounded awful, but I can't. You aren't a terrible singer at all.”

Michael grinned crookedly at Gavin. “Of course I'm not. I got a voice of an angel.” Gavin couldn't even deny that. They looked at the tree and tilted their heads.

“I think we're done,” Michael then said. 

“Yeah,” Gavin agreed, and he turned to face Michael better. “Thank you, for this. It looks top, better than I ever imagined.”

Michael's smile softened as he said, “Anything for you, Gav,” before cupping his face and capturing Gavin's lips with his own. 

 

 

 

 


	2. Peppermint Kisses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Geoff is the only one in the group that likes candy canes and he eats them all the time, giving the others peppermint kisses. But then Geoff ruins the moment by singing Christmas carols with his " _beautiful_ " voice. (ahot6)

The sound of a candy wrapper being crinkled over and over made Michael groan before turning away from the TV, but he already knew what he was going to see. Geoff tossed the wrapper into the trash can and Michael narrowed his eyes at the sight of a candy cane hanging out of Geoff's mouth.

“Isn't that like your, what, fucking 5th one _today_?” Michael asked, looking over at Gavin who was still lying on the couch. Gavin paid him or Geoff no attention, though, since apparently whatever he was reading online was more interesting.

“I ate one in the morning,” Geoff started counting with his hand, keeping the candy cane in his mouth, so his words sounded a little mumbled, “One after lunch... and then one right now. This is only my _third_ today, Michael.”

Michael smirked. “Sorry, I can't keep up with your _disgusting_ candy cane addiction.”

“Hey, candy canes aren't disgusting. Don't knock it until you've tried it.”

Michael was ready to say some sort of remark to that, but he was cut off by the obnoxious and probably over exaggerated sounds of Geoff's delight for that stupid candy cane he was currently sucking on. Gavin finally looked up from his laptop to stare at Geoff with wide eyes and eyebrows furrowed

“I don't understand why you like those so much,” he then told him, placing his laptop aside and closing it.

“What's not to understand?”

“They're gross,” Michael and Gavin both said in unison, equally sounding repulsed.

“It's just mint flavor!”

“Well, mint gets a _little_ tiring,” Ryan said, and they all turned to find him walking in from the kitchen with Ray following behind.

Michael inhaled through his nose and frowned. “I don't smell anything good,” he said, turning his head to glare at them, “What the fuck were you guys doing in my kitchen for so long then?”

“Listen, listen, we were _going_ to make us all a nice dinner, but-”

“But then Jack came in and well, we got ourselves into a sort of dirty situation,” Ray finished off for Ryan, but then he held his hands up in defense, “And I mean actual dirt, too, like labor work. I'm exhausted,” he walked over to the couch and sat down next to Gavin.

Michael gaped at him and Ryan. “What did you guys break this time?” He sternly asked.

“Ray and I didn't break anything,” Ryan answered, “Jack technically didn't break anything either.”

“At least nothing we couldn't fix,” Ray mumbled.

“Exactly.”

“Oh my god,” Michael breathed out as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

Geoff stifled a laugh as he bit into his candy cane and let out a loud “Ah”. Michael rolled his eyes at that, and before he knew it, Geoff was standing right next to him, his minty warm breath brushing against his ear.

“You know, maybe you should try lightening up a bit,” Geoff said as he gently grabbed Michael's chin and turned his head.

“Geoff-” but Michael was cut off by Geoff's lips on his. It was only a peck, and when Geoff pulled away, Michael purposely wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

“Your fucking lips are sticky,” he whined, not even bothering to mention the fact that Geoff's minty breath was actually pretty refreshing, and nice.

“Oh, are they?” Geoff asked, sounding like he was genuinely curious, yet he quickly kissed Michael again – this time, on the cheek, and Michael sighed in defeat.

“You guys waste so much time bitching at each other,” Geoff said as he stepped away from Michael and started heading over to where Ray and Gavin were sitting. He smiled down at Ray and Ray tried shielding himself from those sticky lips, though it was no use. Geoff managed to lean and press his lips on the corner of Ray's.

“Oh, man, your breath smells like candy canes and alcohol,” Ray stated blandly, closing his eyes as he prepared himself for another kiss, but it wasn't just one kiss; Geoff went on to place them all over Ray's face, finally making Ray laugh and attempt to push him away. After a moment, Geoff stopped, and he was laughing as well. He was going to do the same to Gavin, but he found that Gavin had already gotten up and was hiding behind Ryan now.

“Well, that just makes it easier for me; I get two at a time,” Geoff teased.

Ryan shook his head, smiling slightly. “Go wash out your mouth first, Geoff,” he told him.

“You guys are ridiculous. I don't get why you hate these so much,” Geoff said as he held up the candy cane he was munching on, “Of all the things not to like. Why these?”

“I ate so much one time that I threw them all up,” Michael explained.

“Yeah, and then Michael _told_ me that story in _full_ detail and _I_ threw up,” Gavin added.

“I just don't like them,” Ray muttered with a shrug.

“I don't either,” Ryan said, “And before you go looking for him to ask, I know Jack would just rather not eat them.” Geoff nodded and took another bite of his candy cane, making Gavin cringe in a way that made Geoff laugh.

“I think Michael is full of shit when he says he doesn't like them,” Geoff told them, “Because if he didn't, he wouldn't have a box of them in his house.”

“I got them for you, you dumbass,” Michael declared, crossing his arms. “That's why they were still new when you got here; I haven't even _touched_ them.”

Geoff looked at Ryan as he said, “I think Michael needs more loving or something. He's in a mood.”

“I fucking heard that, you know?!” But Geoff merely laughed and since Ryan was distracted with laughing a bit, too, Geoff took that opportunity to cup Ryan's face and pull him into a kiss. Ryan sighed into the kiss, honestly not minding the sticky lips at all, especially because whatever scent of alcohol that was previously there was now being completely masked the more Geoff ate his current candy cane. To humor his boyfriends, though, Ryan lifted his hands and feigned a gasp when Geoff pulled away.

“Oh, no, I've been pepperminted!” He sarcastically shouted. Ray snorted a laugh and Michael smiled.

Geoff walked around Ryan to get to Gavin, but they were both momentarily caught off guard by Jack entering the room.

“So, Michael,” Jack spoke, smiling innocently, “How does pizza sound? My treat.” Michael squinted his eyes at him in response.

“Oh, look, it's Jack!” Gavin happily announced, gesturing towards him.

Geoff nodded and started heading over to Jack, “I feel like I haven't seen you in forever.”

“You saw me at lunch,” Jack reminded him, and then his eyes shifted down to look at the half eaten candy cane in Geoff's hand, already knowing what Geoff was about to do. “Oh, alright then. What the heck, why not.” And as he accepted Geoff's kiss without any hesitance, Gavin huffed and placed his hands on his hips.

“Well, bloody hell, then,” he practically spat out, “Lay one on me, too, Geoff. I can handle it.”

Geoff looked at over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow. “Hmm, I don't know; you've denied me so much already. I don't feel like being rejected again.”

“You won't, because I'm the one asking for it now.”

“Ooh,” Michael and Ray cooed, earning a glare from Gavin.

“Gavin wants your minty, sticky kiss, Geoff, so just give it to the poor guy before he cries,” Ray joked, getting a laugh out of everyone but Gavin.

Geoff opened out his arms as he started walking towards Gavin and Gavin didn't try running or hiding this time. Michael headed back to the couch and took a seat next to Ray, followed by Ryan and Jack, and then soon after, Gavin was trying to find some more room on the couch. After failing to do so and refusing to sit alone of the sofa, Gavin opted to lying down on everyone's lap – his head resting on Ryan's and his feet on Jack's.

“God damnit, Gavin,” Michael laughed as he placed a hand on the side of Gavin's thigh and patted it gently.

“Look who lightened up,” Geoff said as he walked up behind the couch and leaned down to place another kiss on Michael's forehead. Michael didn't even complain this time, because these kisses were becoming his favorite.

“I think you deserve another candy cane,” he told Geoff.

“ _Deserve_?” Geoff asked, scoffing afterwards. “What am I? A dog? A child? I'll get another one whether I _deserve_ it or not, asshole.” And he really did walk over to the coffee table where the box of candy canes was and pulled himself out another.

“I think this is why Geoff visits the dentist the most during this time of year,” Jack said.

Geoff sat down on the sofa and sighed. “I don't know what you're talking about, Jack. I think that’s just a coincidence.”

“Oh, of course,” Jack pretended to agree as he nodded, although he began to laugh.

Silence was beginning to take over, leaving the news reporter on the TV to be the only sound, and everything really did feel so peaceful that Gavin, because he was the only one lying down, started to close his eyes. But then...

“Deck the halls with boughs of holly, fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la! ” Geoff sang, his voice cracking every other word, “'Tis the season to be _jolly_! Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la!” And he just kept getting louder, too.

“Bollocks,” Gavin grumbled as he lifted his head and buried his face in Ryan's chest.

“Geoff, I fucking swear-” yet Michael was interrupted by Geoff continuing to sing horribly high.

“- _Something_ , something, _something_ , something! Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la- _laaaaaaa_!”

Because telling him to stop wasn't going to work, the others merely groaned and Michael turned up the volume on the TV to try to drain out Geoff's voice, but Geoff was up for the challenge and sang louder. 

“Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la, you all love _me_!”

“Yeah, and I'm beginning to question why,” Ray mumbled, and he flinched a bit when a pillow was thrown at him by Geoff.

“This next one is called “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, which I'm sure you idiots know the words to, so sing along!” Geoff told them, throwing his hands up in excitement.

Michael grabbed the pillow that was thrown at Ray and threw it right back at Geoff just as Geoff was singing again.

“ _Rudolph_ the- ah! Fuck! _Michael_!”

The corners of Michael's lips rose as the others simply laughed at Geoff's baffled look.

 


	3. Mustering Up Some Courage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Gavin drinks a bit too much eggnog, he finds it so easy when Michael is standing under the mistletoe.

Eggnog wasn't always one of Gavin's favorites – in fact, he sort of hated the taste of it, but this was a Holiday party where most of the drinks consisted of eggnog, water, and beer. He was going to go for the beer, but they all ran out before he could, leaving with water or eggnog, which was a shame; he was really looking forward to getting drunk and probably passing out on Burnie's couch. He almost settled on mere water when he saw Barbara walking up and helping herself to cup of the eggnog.

“You honestly like that stuff?” Gavin asked her as he watched her take a sip.

“Hmm, it's alright,” she admitted with a shrug, “but it's even better that there's alcohol in it.”

Gavin raised an eyebrow questioningly at her and she nodded before walking off to meet up with Arryn again. Turning his attention back to the table, Gavin pursed his lips as he started to pour himself a cup. He lifted it up to nose and sniffed, and he smiled when he was able to detect the aroma of whatever kind of alcohol was poured in there. When he took a sip, he realized it was simply rum, which was fine with him, so he downed the rest of the liquid in the cup and poured himself more.

There was a reason for his great need to get intoxicated and that reason was standing on the other side of the room, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and intently listening to some story Geoff was telling. Gavin sighed as he stared at him, that annoying fluttery feeling in his chest increasing, because Michael Jones just had that sort of affect on him. The worst part of it was, Gavin was pretty damn sure Michael would _never_ return those feelings. Not because Michael was straight, since Gavin wasn't one hundred percent sure on that, but because Michael only saw him as one and one thing only – his best friend.

Gavin practically emptied his entire cup again as he tried suppressing those thoughts, but he really did miss the times when he saw Michael as a mere friend as well. Now everything was so complicated and somehow Michael seemed to be getting more adorable the more the days went by. It wasn't even fair.

Gavin rolled his eyes and turned back around to fill up his cup once again, but this time, when he lifted the cup up to his lips, he gasped and jumped, allowing some of the eggnog to spill over, all because of a voice that appeared next to him.

“Hey, Gav,” Michael had greeted, though he took a few steps away, seeing that he had startled Gavin.

“ _Jesus,_ Michael,” Gavin breathed out, shaking his head.

Michael laughed and Gavin wanted to groan. That damn laugh. It did wonders to Gavin.

“I'm sorry,” Michael said through his laughter. “I didn't think I would scare you.” Instead of responding, Gavin chugged the entire drink down and avoided eye contact with Michael.

“Having fun?” Michael asked as he helped himself to a glass of eggnog.

“Tons,” Gavin mumbled. As soon as Michael was done pouring himself the drink, Gavin took over.

“Wow, someone's thirsty,” Michael commented, smiling softly at Gavin, but Gavin still didn't look at him.

“Yeah, a little,” he answered, and then, he turned away from him. “I gotta go talk to, uh, Lindsay, about something.” He didn't even know where the hell Lindsay could be. He started heading off, but he could hear Michael say something else to him, in a sort of offended tone.

“Oh, okay, Gav. Just _walk_ away from me. That's fine.”

_You don't really give me a choice, you adorable arsehole,_ Gavin thought to himself the further he got away. 

As the party went on, the more Gavin stopped to worry about his feelings for Michael. So what if he was kind of, maybe, possibly, in love with his best friend? And so what if that best friend didn't return those feelings? It didn't mean he needed to ruin his friendship with him, which was what he was pretty much by doing by being distant. At least Michael appeared to be having fun with others, so perhaps Gavin didn't totally blow it. Despite the fact that he was having just as much fun and was becoming carefree about everything, he still found himself staring at Michael from time to time, smiling whenever Michael smiled at someone or something.

But it was okay... these feelings were okay. If past experiences taught Gavin anything, it was that, eventually, he would get over Michael and things would go back to being how they should. Yeah, he couldn't wait for that to happen.

Looking down at his cup, Gavin saw that it was empty again, and he frowned. He wasn't drunk enough to the point where he wouldn't be able to remember anything that was happening, but he knew he would be if he continued at this rate, and he kind of wanted that. He began heading back to the table and was in the process of pouring his drink when he looked over his shoulder. He wasn't sure why he felt the need to look behind him, but he did, and he saw Michael standing nearby, alone, concentrated on his phone. Gavin grinned crookedly, though his eyebrows twitched together as he looked a little further up and noticed the mistletoe.

There it was again, that stupid tingle in his chest. After managing to get rid of it for a few hours, it was back, and this time, it felt stronger. Gavin was unsure whether or not Michael knew he was actually standing underneath that mistletoe, which did hold Gavin back from walking over to him at first, but no, he didn't _want_ to hold himself back.

Feeling the confidence of the alcohol in his system start to take over after sipping on his half filled cup, Gavin took a deep breath and made his way towards Michael. Maybe this was a horribly stupid idea, but it was worth a try, wasn't it? If he was denied, then fine. He would get over it.

Right?

Michael glanced up from his phone in time to see his friend, but he didn't smile.

“Here to make up for ditching me earlier?” He asked, narrowing his eyes at Gavin.

Gavin opened his mouth, yet he didn't even know what to say to that. Michael furrowed his eyebrows, but then Gavin was nodding, his head practically moving like a bobble head. Michael was going to laugh until Gavin stepped closer, making their faces only inches apart. Gavin had to ignore those tingles in his chest, because those what were trying to ruin the courage he was having as he lifted his hand and pointed up. Michael swallowed hard as looked up where Gavin was pointing and froze momentarily when he saw the mistletoe. He locked eyes with Gavin again for just a second before Gavin's lips were pressed against his own. Michael sighed into the kiss, bringing his hands up to grab Gavin's face. Then he heard Gavin squeak, so he pulled away quickly and stared at him with a concerned look, but Gavin was smiling.

“You're kissing me back,” Gavin excitedly stated.

“Uh, well, yeah...” Michael wasn't sure why Gavin was so surprised, but the more he looked at his smile, the more he smiled himself.

“I didn't think you would ever,” Gavin admitted, “And I feel _really_ happy that I was wrong.”

Michael inhaled sharply, a warmth beginning to fill up inside of him. He pulled Gavin in for another kiss and this time, Gavin placed his hands on Michael's hips as he tilted his head to deepen that kiss.

 


	4. You Fell For Me!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Michael forgets to remember just how slippery the path he's walking on is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another Mavin one, because ahhh I cannot resist these two. Next chapter is going to be a different ship though :)))

Michael practically spent his entire morning complaining to himself over the fact that some unexpected snow that actually happened over night. _Why_. It wasn't even close to being a lot – probably only two inches – but no stupid weather station had predicted this crap and now the things Michael wanted to finish that day would have to be postponed. Well, not _all_ of them, but he really didn't want to leave his apartment when it was freezing outside. So that whole morning, he wandered around at home, cleaning up stuff that needed to put away, and by the time lunch came around, his place was actually spotless. 

“ _Great._ Now what?” He asked himself as he looked around, hands on his hips. 

Okay, he figured he could spend the rest of the day playing video games or watching something on Netflix, but he did that yesterday... and the day before... He was honestly beginning to get a little sick of being home. With a long sigh, Michael headed towards the hallway closet and pulled out his coat and beanie. Maybe he would be getting some of those plans done today. 

He grabbed his car keys and phone before heading out; although once he got to the parking lot, he decided there was no use in driving if the places he needed to be where in walking distance. He started his walk, stuffing his hands into his pockets and minding his own business. At one point, a kid was close to running right into him because they both weren't paying attention, but Michael had looked up just in time and moved out of the way as quickly as he could. The kid skipped off as if nothing had just been about to occur. Oh, kids. 

Michael shook his head and shivered a little when the wind blew across his face and neck. A scarf would have been nice, but he hadn't even thought of that when he was leaving. Maybe he could stop at one of these stores and find a good one for under ten dollars. Man, why was it even this cold in Austin? Wasn't it supposed to be hot? Or at least, not cold enough to snow? Did it  _always_ snow or was this just the first time in years? Maybe he picked the wrong time to move there, then, but being more than ready of getting out of New Jersey and finding an apartment with minimal problems didn't give him time to contemplate everything. 

He was so indulged in thinking over everything that he didn't quite bother to be steady with his steps anymore and roughly turning a corner caused him to slip. 

“Ah, fuck!” Michael shouted, his arms moving wildly as he tried finding catching his balance and grabbing onto something, but failing to do both, he found himself falling backwards. He caught a glimpse of someone running towards him, but then they just stopped, so he braced himself for the pain that would surely happen once he hit the icy cement ground by closing his eyes. 

As soon as he stopped falling and he didn't feel that pain, his eyes fluttered back open and he looked down to find arms wrapped around him from underneath his. 

“What the fuck...” he breathed out. 

“Are you alright there, love?” The voice of the person holding him asked, and Michael stared up to find… _oh._

Heat rushed to Michael's once cold cheeks, because of all people to embarrass himself in front of, he didn't think the person would look like this guy, with the green-blue like eyes, crooked smile, and messy sandy hair. He also had a nose that appeared to be too big, but it suited him perfectly. Wait... what exactly was Michael thinking about this stranger?

Michael shook his head and immediately got himself to stand up and took a few steps away from whoever this guy was.

“God damn this fucking weather,” he muttered, looking down at his feet.

“Are you alright?” The guy repeated, and this time, Michael realized he was British.

“Yeah, I'm _fine,_ ” Michael answered sternly, adjusting his coat to get himself to do something.

The stranger held up his hands in defense. “I'm sorry,” he said, sounding anything but apologetic, “I just wanted to help.”

“Well, thanks, uh...” Michael trailed off and looked the guy in the eyes.

“Gavin,” the guy replied smoothly. “I'm Gavin.”

The corners of Michael's lips twitched up into a slight smile as he nodded. “Hi, Gavin. I'm Michael,” and he held out his hand. Gavin grinned, gently grabbing Michael's hand and shaking it. Michael licked his lips and pulled his hand away, dropping eye contact. A part of him felt a little foolish, because he wouldn't normally think about introducing himself to some guy, especially one he fell into the arms of, but he couldn't deny that Gavin was... fuck, well, he was cute, and that's what made this situation a bit worse.

“Okay, Gavin, I'm going to go now,” Michael then told him, starting to turn away.

“Be more careful, yeah?” There was a hint of teasing in that tone that made Michael glare back at him, but Gavin only laughed when that happened.

“You're kind of a little shit, you know that?” Michael asked. “I mean, I just _met_ you and I know that.”

Gavin stopped laughing and sighed, his warm breath visible in the air. “I guess I should say I'm sorry again, but it's not everyday an attractive bloke like yourself falls for me, so I forget how to act properly sometimes. I'm sorry. I really am.”

Michael's eyebrows twitched together because there was more than just one thing in what Gavin said that was making him want to blush again, but there was indeed one thing in particular he needed to question.

“Excuse me – _fall_ for you? Did you really just say that?”

“Well, you did, though. You fell for me! Just now!” Gavin told him, gesturing towards the spot Michael had slipped on.

Michael rolled his eyes and tried not laughing at how ridiculous Gavin was being. Seriously, who did this guy think he was?

“You're not funny,” Michael snapped, but it appeared to be that, the angrier he attempted to be, the more Gavin smiled. Michael wasn't sure whether to be annoyed by that or not, but wow, that smile was certainly a nice thing to look at.

Noticing the silence that had come over them, Gavin took a deep breath and let it out loudly.

“Well, Michael, it was nice meeting you, but I'm bloody cold and want to get home already,” he took a few steps around Michael, but he kept his half hooded eyes on him, “Have a lovely day and don't fall for anyone else.” Then he winked and Michael gaped at him. Gavin finally turned his head to face forward and managed to get a bit away before Michael was calling out for him.

“Hey, wait- Gavin!”

And Gavin couldn't even stop the giddiness from forming inside of him as he smiled and turned back around. Michael didn't know why he was going to do what he was about to do, but hey, it wasn't everyday you “ _fall_ ” for someone as interesting as Gavin seemed to be, no matter how cliché that sounded. Michael had also just never taken this big of a risk before, so his heart was kind of beating a little fast.

“Uh, you're kind of an asshole and annoying,” he began, seeing how Gavin breathed out a laugh at that, “but maybe I'm wrong and judging too much and you're actually cool.”

“Maybe,” Gavin agreed with a nod.

Michael swallowed the lump in his throat. “So, uh, I was thinking that we should... get each other's numbers or some shit. I don't know,” he shrugged, wanting to punch himself, because he had never been so awkward. Okay, he had never been _extremely_ confident either, but this was just bad.

Or perhaps it wasn't, because Gavin was taking out his phone and smirking at Michael. Michael reached into his pocket for his phone as well and did not even bother trying to resist smiling back at him.

 


	5. Thank You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Working at the soup kitchen was something Ray had started doing a few years back when he was bored one Christmas eve, and then he just kept going, meeting up with the same people each year. This year, however, someone new appears, and well, things just got a bit more interesting. (Ray/Michael)

Working at the soup kitchen was something Ray had started doing a few years back when he was bored one Christmas eve, and then he just kept going, meeting up with the same people each year. This year, however, there was someone different that walked in, asking if he could help out. Ray was called over immediately to help out the new guy, because after so many years, Ray knew everything and anything that went into working at these kitchens, especially during the holidays.

Ray smiled at the new guy, but that smile quickly faltered when it wasn't returned. “Hi!” He greeted, trying to sound cheerful, “Uh, so, what brings you here?”

The man shrugged a shoulder. “I got nothing better to do,” he mumbled.

“Need time away from the family?”

“Um, sure.”

“Yeah, I know how family can get a little hectic during this time of the year, but come follow me; I'll show you around,” Ray gestured towards the line of other volunteers serving food. “You basically just follow along to how much they're serving to make sure everyone gets an equal amount,” he paused and glanced behind him to make sure the guy was following, but he was, so Ray smiled slightly and went on to explain all of the rules and things that go into volunteering there.

By the time he was done, he realized he didn't know this guy's name.

“Oh, man, I didn't catch your name,” he told him, turning to face him and holding his hand out.

The guy's eyes flickered down to stare at Ray's hand, and he still didn't smile when he shook it and mumbled, “Michael.”

“Hey, Michael, I'm Ray, and I think you'll fit in great here,” although he felt weird being the only one smiling, especially when the smiles were beginning to be forced, he didn't want to stop.

Ray also wasn't sure what ended up coming over him, but when he saw Michael start getting to work, he had this _urge_ to make it his mission to get Michael to smile _once_ before the end of the day. He would randomly, and gently, bump shoulders with Michael and grin at him when Michael faced him, but that just wouldn't work. It seemed to only agitate Michael further, because he was starting to glare at Ray anytime Ray was near him.

So, Ray went another route with his mission.

After a while when it seemed everyone had their food and no one else was walking in, Ray went up to Michael, noticing the way Michael flinched and tried moving away a bit, but he didn't say anything about that.

“Man, you did _great_ for your first time here,” Ray complimented, attempting to not sound eager or like he was purposely trying to win him over. “In the years I've worked here, I've _never_ seen anyone work as fast you do without any mistakes.” Okay, maybe that was pushing it a little. He was acting like a puppy that wanted nothing more but to please.

Michael sighed loudly and nodded. “Thanks,” he said, his voice soft, but he avoided looking Ray in the eyes.

Ray lifted his hand and hesitated a moment before placing it on Michael's shoulder. “I'm serious, okay? I hope you come back next year.”

“Maybe.”

Knowing that was the best he was going to get, Ray put his hand down and turned to leave him alone, so he didn't hear when Michael said quietly, “I already know I'm not doing nothing next Christmas anyway.”

By the time the day was over and all the volunteers were close to being done with cleaning everything up, Ray found himself searching for certain auburn curls, but as he scanned the room, he was disappointed to not see him anywhere.

“He left already,” a voice said from behind.

Ray looked over to see his friend Kerry, one of the first volunteers he had met, standing there, broom clutched in his hands. Ray wanted to roll his eyes, because he really wasn't surprised to hear that.

“Before he did, though,” Kerry spoke again, “He told me to tell you 'Merry Christmas'.” Ray raised his eyebrows and Kerry looked back at the floor to finish sweeping the little crumbs.

Ray took off his apron and hung it up, grabbing his jacket in the process. He said his goodbyes to everyone on his way out and promised to be back next time. As he stepped out into the cool air, he stuffed his hands into his pockets and smiled as he thought back to what Kerry had told him. His mission might have failed, but he got something else out of it instead.

“Well, Merry Christmas to you, too, Michael.”

Throughout the next year, Michael would occasionally cross Ray's mind. It would happen when he was alone and all other thoughts were gone, but then Michael would creep up and have him thinking for a long while. The closer it became to December again, he wondered more if Michael would be coming back. He wondered if he had happened to walk passed him during the year without noticing, because when Ray was out doing something, he kept to himself and didn't bother paying any attention to people around him. Maybe he should start paying attention...

On Christmas day, Ray arrived at the kitchen, and the first person he saw made him halt in his tracks. There, helping set up the tables, was Michael. The corners of Ray's lips twitched up into a grin and he hurried over to grab an apron. Michael glanced up to see him walking over, but just like the year before, he didn't smile.

“You have no idea how happy I am to see you, Michael,” Ray bluntly told him, sighing in relief, and Michael furrowed his eyebrows.

“You are?” He asked.

“Yeah! It was nice having you around last year. It's just nice seeing a new face to work with.”

Michael averted his eyes and Ray was close to gasping, because he could have _sworn_ he saw a hint of a smile on Michael's face. It left almost immediately, but it had been there; Ray was sure of it. Another volunteer, Lindsay, brought out a box and started handing out Santa hats for everyone to wear. Ray laughed when he received one and placed it on his head.

“How does it look?”

“Adorable,” Lindsay responded, smiling back at him. She then took the last hat out and handed it to Michael. Michael blinked and slowly took it from her. “Be ready, guys, we open soon.”

Ray nodded and was about to leave to join the others, but he noticed how Michael was refusing to put on the hat. Ray sighed and snatched the hat from Michael's hands.

“Come on, Michael, get in the spirit,” he said as he placed it on Michael's head for him. Michael was staring at him with a dull look the entire time Ray was adjusting it and the second Ray was done, Michael shook his head, but he didn't take it off or say anything.

The two made their way over to the where the food was and got themselves ready for the crowd that was sure to come in. Even though Michael didn't exactly smile at anyone, everyone seemed to adore him, because he actually had a way with words, telling each person how much they meant to him and everyone who worked there. Ray was genuinely surprised when he heard Michael say all of that, but he didn't dare mention it when they were done that night. And like the year before, Michael had disappeared before Ray could even catch him.

This time, Lindsay was the one to say, “Oh, Michael says 'Merry Christmas' and that he'll see you next year.”

So as Ray made his way home, he whispered out, “Merry Christmas, Michael.”

And for most of the next year, he definitely had Michael on his mind much more than he wanted to admit. He started to find himself bringing up Michael during any opportunity he could find, like when he hung out with his best friend Gavin on weekends.

“Wow, you really like this Michael guy,” Gavin commented one particular night.

Ray snorted. “What do you mean?”

“You won't shut up about him.”

“Yeah, because... he's one of those people you can't get out of your mind, but only because they're _different_ , you know? Not in a bad way at all, but-”

“But you think he's cute, yeah?”

“No-well, he's not _bad_ looking...”

Gavin merely rolled his eyes and Ray had to force himself not to bring up Michael again that night. Later that year, on Christmas day again, Ray managed to convince Gavin to join him this time. It didn't take much to convince Gavin, because Gavin's curiosity of how Michael was and how he looked was already enough to get him to go. The moment they arrived, Ray subtly pointed Michael out to Gavin, and Gavin grinned.

“He's _adorable_ , Ray.”

Ray was going to tell him to shut up, but then he looked over to stare at Michael as well, and he sighed. And to his surprise, Michael turned around and locked eyes with him. Ray wasn't even sure whether to smile or not, so he started to wave, and to add to his surprise, Michael smiled at him. Ray's lips parted in shock, because Michael wasn't done amazing Ray since he went over to where Ray and Gavin were still standing.

“Hey,” he greeted casually.

“Hi,” Ray breathed out, receiving a look from Gavin that he ignored.

Gavin scoffed and crossed his arms. “I can see I won't be introduced, so I'll do it myself,” he turned to Michael and smiled, “Hi, I'm Gavin.”

“He's Michael,” Ray answered, not taking his eyes off Michael. Michael smiled slightly again at Ray and then nodded at Gavin.

“It's nice to meet you, _Michael_ ,” Gavin said, purposely glancing at Ray when he said Michael's name. “Ray has told me _so_ much about you.” Ray choked on his spit, beginning to cough loudly, and both of them looked at him – Michael with concern and Gavin with amusement.

“You've talked about me?” Michael asked him after Ray had regained himself.

Ray cleared his throat and Gavin replied for him, “Yeah! He's always going on and on-”

“Gavin, shut up,” Ray interjected.

“-about you and how he's glad you decided to volunteer here.”

Michael averted his eyes as he bit down on his lower lip. Wanting to be anywhere but there, Ray patted Gavin's back, a little too roughly and said, “Michael, h-how about you take over here with Gavin and show him around.”

Michael's head whipped back up to stare wide eyed at Ray. “What? Are you _sure_? I think you should, you know, since you've been here longer and shit.”

“No, Michael, you've been here for two years already; I trust you enough to teach this idiot,” Ray nodded towards Gavin and Gavin gaped at him, “It shouldn't be too hard.”

“I am _not_ an idiot,” Gavin defended himself, but Ray simply smiled at him.

“I'll see you around, Michael,” Ray quickly mumbled before heading off.

Michael watched him walk away until he was out of sight, and then he faced Gavin. “Um, alright well, everything we do here-”

“Save it, Michael,” Gavin cut him off, “I understand what I have to do here. Ray's talked about it plenty of times before.”

Michael seemed to sigh in relief as he nodded. “Okay, then let's just get our aprons on.” Gavin happily followed Michael towards the back, but catching a glance of Ray from across the room, he couldn't help himself to say something.

“So, Ray's cute, don't you think?” He asked Michael.

Michael blinked hard and looked at Gavin over his shoulder. “Uh, I mean... I, sort of. I think, yeah. Why do you ask?”

“Oh, no reason!”

Michael shook his head. “I see why he calls you an idiot.”

“Why?”

“Because you are,” Michael teased as he grabbed one of the aprons off the hook and handed it to Gavin. Gavin wasn't even going to pretend to be offended by that, because he already liked Michael, and he definitely liked the idea of Michael and Ray being together.

“So, you've been coming here for the past two Christmases, yeah?”

“Yes.”

“How come you and Ray haven't talked outside of this place yet, then?”

Michael paused from putting his apron to think about that. He shrugged after a while and continued tying the back. “I don't know. It never crossed my mind, to be honest.”

“Well, I think you should; you two would be get along perfectly well, and like I said, he does talk about you a lot, so he would be interested.”

Michael remained silent, but he did nod and they both got themselves ready by standing where they needed to. During the whole time they were serving food, Michael couldn't stop himself from glancing at Ray and smiling to himself every time Gavin's words come back to him.

And this time, when everyone was finishing with cleaning up, Michael didn't tell anyone to pass on a message to Ray, because he did it himself. As Ray was putting on his jacket, Michael tapped him on the shoulder and Ray turned around, a little startled to see that it was him.

“Merry Christmas, Ray,” Michael said softly, that hint of a smile daring to appear.

Ray grinned at him, his heart actually doing a small flutter in his chest. “Merry Christmas, Michael.” As Michael turned away and walked out of there, Gavin stood next to Ray and wrapped an arm around him.

“Now that's an improvement,” Gavin told him, but Ray was too distracted by watching Michael go to respond.

The next year, things weren't quite the same.

Ray was more excited about heading to the kitchen than any other year. It felt a little silly to him that he really had a crush on someone he only saw once a year, but he knew that just meant Michael didn't need days or months to keep his attention. Those twelve hours he spent with him on Christmas day every year were enough for Ray to know Michael was... well, he was truly something, and Ray liked him. A lot.

But when he walked in that Christmas day and didn't find Michael anywhere, he felt the excitement literally be ripped out of him. Was he surprised, though? No, not really. It had been a year. Michael probably found someone else and had totally forgotten about Ray and the kitchen. Perhaps he had moved... oh. Now that thought was something Ray hoped wasn't true, but it was a possibility. So much could happen in one year.

Ray got himself ready for the day, trying his best to smile at his friends, but he just didn't feel in the mood anymore. He knew better than to be done over a stupid crush, yet he was just sure that he and Michael had something good going on. He supposed he was wrong and got too caught up in the moment to remember reality.

When the people arrived, though, Ray did put on a smile and greeted them as he usually did. He couldn't let some dreamy guy spoil his Christmas. Lindsay and Kerry seemed to notice Ray's struggle with keeping his mood up, so after they were done serving, they pulled him aside and asked him what was wrong.

“Nothing,” Ray grumbled.

“Yes, something,” Lindsay said, crossing her arms.

“Dude, you're so upset, and it's making me upset,” Kerry told him.

“I'm sorry... I just...”

Lindsay's expression then softened as she realized what was wrong. “Oh, it's Michael, isn't it? He didn't come today, so, you're upset about that, aren't you?”

Ray wanted to deny it and laugh it off, but he couldn't find it within him to do so. Instead, he merely shrugged, breaking eye contact and staring at the floor, and Lindsay sighed.

“Maybe he'll come next year,” Kerry said, although he nudged Lindsay gently and nodded towards the entrance.

Lindsay raised an eyebrow questioningly at Kerry, but when she looked and saw who was walking in, she had to stop herself from making an excited noise.

“Uh, uh, y-yeah! He'll _definitely_ come next year,” She spoke, adding on to what Kerry had said.

“You guys can't be so sure about that,” Ray told them as he looked up again.

“Huh, well, I guess you're right,” Kerry nodded, “But hey, we got another person. How's about you take over and give them some food?” He patted Ray on the shoulder and turned around before his smile could come out in front of Ray.

He and Lindsay walked off and Ray groaned a little as he turned to look at the person.

“Hi, Merry Christmas and welcome-” though he stopped talking once he saw who it was.

Michael was standing there, a grin on his face and a bouquet of roses in his hands. Ray's jaw was dropped open and he wanted to say something, but he was at a loss for words.

“The first year that I came here, I really just came so I could be around other people instead of alone at him like I had spent the last five Christmases,” Michael said, his grip on the roses tightening a little, “I didn't expect to keep coming back, but I met you, and finally, I actually had something to look forward to every year.”

Ray closed his mouth and swallowed hard, taking the bouquet as Michael handed them to him.

“And fuck, I'm sorry it took _so_ long, but if you would ever want to, I don't know, hang out with me, I would _love_ that,” Michael had only stuttered slightly and that was already an accomplishment for him, considering how nervous he felt.

After what felt like forever, Ray smiled at him. “Yeah, Michael. That'd be cool. No... that'd be great... awesome... yes. Uh... yeah, just yes.” And he jumped a bit when everyone in the building began clapping.

“Fuck, people listening in to our conversation and shit,” Ray mumbled to Michael. Michael laughed and shook his head.

“I'm not done yet, though,” Michael said through his laughter.

Ray widened his eyes slightly. “Oh... what else is there?”

Michael finished laughing, keeping a smile on his face as he leaned closer to Ray and whispered, “Thank you, for everything. I don't think I'd be who I am today if it weren't for you, and I know how fucking damn pathetic that sounds, but it's true.”

Ray felt heat rise to his cheeks as Michael stepped back. “It's not... it's not pathetic at all,” he told him, and Michael just continued to smile at him until he returned it.

 


	6. Christmas Caroling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Perhaps Gavin drank too much at the holiday party he had attended that night, because now he finds himself outside of a certain someone's house, proudly singing Christmas carols. (Mavin because i'm such trash and i love these cuties.)

When Michael had first heard the singing, he honestly thought he was dreaming, or in some weird nightmare because of too much Christmas. It was fine, though, since it was Christmas eve, and he knew that meant only more day of everyone feeling in the spirit. Afterward, people would relax and go about their regular lives. Michael didn't hate Christmas or anything about it, but sometimes, it was just too much; too much to the point that he was actually dreaming about someone caroling outside his window.

“ _Siiiiilent_ night, _HOLY_ night!” Michael's eyes shot wide open. That was much too loud to be a mere dream. “All is all, and all is sleeping!” And whoever the hell that was didn't even know the damn words. They also sounded _terrible_ with their voice cracking and their words slurring. Why were they even trying?

Michael was going to wait it out, figuring after they were done singing, they would go to the next house and bug his neighbors instead. But then...

“I _wish_ you a Merr'Christmas, I _wish_ you a Merr'Christmas! I _wish_ you a Merr'Christmas, and a _happy_ New Years!” Okay, that was enough of that.

Michael huffed as he jumped out of his bed, grabbed his jacket, and headed out of his bedroom. The closer he got to his front door, the more disturbing that singing sounded. He peeked through his curtains at first to find a lanky guy standing outside, covered in a coat, a scarf, and a beanie, and judging by his lack of balance and red eyes, it was clear that he was utterly intoxicated. Michael shook his head and turned away to head to the door. On his way there, he got a glance of the clock on his wall and practically gasped out loud when he found it was just past two in the morning.

“Is this fucking asshole serious?!” Michael shouted. He opened his front door, glaring when the guy jumped and looked at him. “It's two in the fucking morning, you god damn prick! What. Are. You. Doing?”

The guy grinned lopsidedly at him and Michael rolled his eyes, because if this was any other time, he really would have found that smile attractive. But no. He was _pissed._ This asshole woke him up from a pretty good sleep.

“S'Christmas!” The guy shouted, opening his arms wide, and Michael raised an eyebrow when he noticed the accent that laced his voice.

“Yeah, I know it's Christmas, but _some_ people like to sleep on Christmas and NOT be woken up by an idiot drunk caroling outside their house!”

The guy laughed a little. “Who's that?” He asked, almost too slurred for Michael to understand.

Michael ran his fingers through his hair and took a deep breath to calm himself down. “You,” he answered blandly. The guy seemed genuinely surprised by this that he gaped at Michael.

“ _Me_? But I'm not... no... I don't... who are you?”

“I could ask you the same fucking thing, but since you're the one who showed up here, you answer that first; who are _you_?” Michael didn't hold back his annoyance, not one bit, but it didn't even matter, because this guy was too drunk to notice anything.

“Name's.... s'Gavin!” Gavin responded to that as though he had forgotten, but was proud he managed to remember, which was probably the case.

“Hmm, okay _Gavin,_ do you know how much you had to drink tonight?”

Gavin was grinning again, but it quickly faltered and he shook his head. “You didn't tell me your name!”

“It's Michael, and I'm guessing you don't know how much you drank tonight, so I also have to assume you might not remember where you live,” Michael raised his eyebrows and took a step closer to Gavin, “Right?”

Gavin held his breath as he looked Michael in the eyes. “Bloody hell, you are  _hot_ ,” he spoke in amazement that Michael wasn't sure how to respond, although he did feel his cheeks heating up. The two simply stood there, staring at each other as the cool night air blew around them. It was staring to make Michael shiver, so he crossed his arms and cleared his throat.

“Look, I wouldn't normally do this sort of thing, but you're fucking wasted and I'm not heartless, so... uh, do you want to come in?” He asked. 

The corners of Gavin's lips rose crookedly as he nodded. Michael nodded towards the door and followed closely behind Gavin to make sure he didn't fall over or trip. 

“It's Christmas!” Gavin shouted cheerfully once he was inside of Michael's house.

Michael sighed. “Yeah, we've gone over this,” he mumbled. After leading Gavin to the couch, he asked, “So, do you have  _any_ idea how you ended up at my house? I mean, we don't know each other and out of  _all_ the houses you could have chosen, why mine?” 

Gavin allowed himself to fall onto the couch, laughing a bit when he noticed Michael flinch at the sight, but he couldn't stop smiling as he talked, “I know you, but I don't  _know_ you.”

Michael blinked, and then looked over Gavin's face for a further explanation. “Wait, what?”

“I've seen you 'round, a lot, I live in the house over there,” Gavin answered as he pointed towards the living room window. Michael turned his head to look, his expression softening as he faced Gavin again.

“You live across the street?” Gavin nodded.

“I live with fr-frieeends – Geoff, Griffon,” he almost laughed, yet before Michael could say anything, Gavin's face went completely serious. “I knew you were cute, but I didn't 'xpect you to look this good,” he spread his hands out, gesturing towards Michael, “in front of me.”

Michael couldn't resist smiling softly at him. “You saying you were like my secret admirer or some shit?”

“S'not a secret no more,” Gavin whispered before covering his mouth to stifle his giggles. 

“So, to impress me, you decided to sing obnoxiously loud outside my house?”

Gavin put his hands down and shrugged. “Merry Christmas!” 

Michael let out a laugh as he patted Gavin's thigh. “You're gonna be so fucking embarrassed when you wake up in the morning, so I'm just gonna let you sleep now.” He started to walk away and smiled at the sounds of Gavin moving around, attempting to get comfortable. As he made it to the corner, he stopped and looked over his shoulder to find Gavin already peacefully falling asleep. 

“Merry Christmas, Gavin.”

 


	7. The Purrfect Thing to Wake Up To

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gavin wanted a cat. He hadn't asked one, not specifically, but he did want one - that much was evident. Therefore, on Christmas morning, he had a little surprise waiting for him by the tree.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mavin, and this is probably going to be the second to last Mavin one. The next four are going to be other ships. :)))

There was only one person that could possibly convince Michael to get a cat as a pet and that person was named Gavin Free. See, Gavin didn't specifically say he wanted a cat, but he did keep going on and on about how much he liked them, how he had one back at home, and also one with the Ramseys. He mentioned how it was a bit disappointing that he didn't have a cat here in his new place with Michael.

“Is that your way of saying you want us to get a cat?” Michael finally asked one day when Gavin was going over this for the hundredth time.

Gavin raised an eyebrow as he turned his head to face Michael. “What? I didn't say that,” he spoke so quickly that his words were all jumbled together. He reminded Michael of a child who had just been caught in a bad act and was now attempting to bullshit his way out of it. Yeah, but that just was _not_ working here.

“You didn't have to; that's all you fucking talk about these days.”

“Do I? Huh... well, I'm sorry, love. I hadn't noticed.”

Michael rolled his eyes and watched how Gavin shrugged before picking up his controller and challenging Michael to a quick game before they had to go to bed. Michael nodded, although he merely stared at Gavin as Gavin started setting up the game. And since that was keeping Gavin distracted, he didn't even notice the smile that had made its way onto Michael's face, because now Michael had something perfect in mind. It was a good thing Christmas was coming up soon...

Yes, this was going to be great, even though he knew he would probably regret it later.

It would be all worth it in the end, he hoped.

He was lucky Gavin didn't like to hassle people on where they kept heading of too, because Michael did constantly leave the house to visit the local shelter. A new kitten had been recently brought in who was apparently found alone in the streets, crying out so loudly that someone walking by finally paid attention to it and immediately rushed it to the here – the shelter.

There was no sign of its mother or possible siblings; the poor thing was simply and utterly alone, left behind, but whether or not it was an accident was untold. Perhaps the mother had an unfortunate ending and the sibling found other owners, or maybe this kitten had been the only one the mother gave birth to and she rejected it, but either way, the little guy needed a new loving home.

The search for the right cat seemed over when Michael heard about this kitten, but there was one problem. Another couple was looking into adopting him. That was okay, though. There were other cats at the shelter that needed homes, too, but that kitten had something special that had made Michael actually _want_ him. It was as though he had been drawn to it, or maybe it was simply due to his big blue eyes and fluffy white fur – he was a very beautiful creature (calm and cuddly, too) and Michael wanted that to be one he gave Gavin. He could already imagine all the ridiculous names Gavin would come up with to name him. So instead of picking another cat that same day, he decided to leave to thoroughly think it over, because if he couldn't have that kitten, then he needed to make sure he chose another one carefully.

Gavin looked up and smiled at him the second he walked through the door. Michael sighed deeply and sauntered his way over to where Gavin was standing.

“You sound upset,” Gavin commented, but Michael shook his head before shutting him up from talking more by leaning in and pressing his lips gently against Gavin's. Gavin raised his eyebrows, but there was _nothing_ to complain about a greeting like this, so he cupped Michael's face and titled his head to deepen the kiss.

Michael pulled back abruptly and smiled at Gavin. “I can't wait for Christmas,” he whispered, his warm breath against Gavin's face.

“Really?” Gavin asked, his eyes flickering down to stare at Michael's lips as Michael wet them.

“Yeah, I have a pretty good feeling about it.” And as he saw Gavin grinning, Michael closed the space between their mouths again. _Well, I'd have an even_ better _feeling about it if the little kitten wasn't being claimed tomorrow,_ he thought to himself, but he didn't let that thought spoil this moment. 

Around four mornings later, Christmas eve to be exact, Michael was up and showered early. He wanted to get to the shelter as soon as possible in case of something else happened there and he ended up with no cat to give Gavin. Gavin was still asleep when Michael finished changing, so quietly, Michael placed a kiss on Gavin's forehead and headed out. The sound of dogs barking could be heard as Michael parked his car and stepped out. He took a deep breath, feeling a little confident that he would find the right cat, and it appeared to be that fate was definitely on his side, because when he walked in there, he was taken aback to find a certain kitten still in the same place it had been days before. 

Michael breathed out a laugh as he approached it and the kitten meowed at him once he was standing right in front of it.

“Holy crap, cat, I thought you would be gone by now,” Michael told him, as if the little kitten could honestly understand him. 

“He would have been, but the couple changed their minds at the last minute,” a voice said from behind, and Michael turned around to find that it was the owner of the shelter. “He's yours if you want him.”

Michael's eyes brightened. “Are you serious?”

The woman nodded, smiling slightly at Michael, and Michael turned back to the kitten. Michael did get him – he had to, especially after that second chance – but of course, he didn't Gavin seeing him until the morning, so Michael made a quick stop at a friend's house before heading home.

“I'm _not_ going to keep him here,” Ray said after Michael explained the whole thing to him and was now standing in the doorway with the kitten in its carrier.

“Come _on_ , Ray, it's just for _one_ night,” Michael had never been one to beg so much for anything before, but he needed this to go his way. So he gave Ray his best pleading face until Ray was throwing his hands up and giving in. Michael's pout quickly transformed into a smile that Ray almost wanted to back out.

“I don't know why you couldn't just ask Lindsay, though; she's the one who likes cats! She would have happily done this!” 

“She's out of town, you idiot.”

Ray blinked as he tried remembering when Lindsay had even mentioned that, and then he mouthed “oh”, because she had talked about it way more than just one time. Michael nodded and handed the carrier to Ray. Ray reluctantly took it from him and set it aside, hoping Michael wasn't lying when he said this kitten was well behaved. 

“This next favor might sound weird,” Michael started and Ray was already whining, “Look, I'm gonna need you to bring him back to my place tomorrow morning, because I can't leave to go somewhere on _Christmas_ morning without Gavin getting a little suspicious.”

“What the fuck? I have to watch over him tonight and then _bring_ him back to _you_?”

“Yes.”

“Why couldn't you just ask someone with a car? _Or_ someone who likes to wake up early on a holiday.”

Michael smirked at him. “Because I knew you would react this way and it's funny.” Ray groaned and crossed his arms and Michael went on to say, “It's a  _huge_ favor, I know, but when you have some ridiculous favor that you want me to do, you can remind me of this and I can't refuse. Deal?”

Ray squinted his eyes at Michael, but since it was the holidays or whatever, he nodded and held out his hand. “Yeah, deal.” And Michael happily shook it. 

That was how, on Christmas morning, Michael woke up a little bit before Gavin to find a text message from Ray.

Ray: I'm here. Open the door so I can give you back your cat, which, by the way, did cry a lot last night, and I can go back home.

Michael held in his laugh as he jumped out of bed and hurried to the front door. Ray was standing on the other side, a dull expression on his face and clutching the cat carrier in one hand. He held the carrier up and Michael repeatedly thanked him.

“Yeah, just don't forget you're going to owe me _big_ time.”

“I won't,” Michael laughed lightly, and he waved Ray goodbye before closing the door and placing the carrier near the tree.

“Gavin!” He called out, hearing a groan in response. “Come on, asshole! It's Christmas!” There was ruffling, lots of it, and then Gavin appeared stumbling down the hallway. Michael shook his head at the sight, purposely standing in front of the carrier. 

“I'm not a child, but I can't lie and say you don't have me excited about Christmas this year,” Gavin said, his accent even more pronounced since he was half awake. He yawned loudly and stretched a bit. “ _Is_ there anything particularly special about this year, or are you just excited because it's our first together living here?”

Instead of answering with words, Michael smiled and stepped aside. Gavin wasn't understanding and Michael could see that, so he scoffed and pointed down. Gavin followed Michael's finger until his eyes landed on the carrier. The smile that formed on Michael's face at the sound of Gavin's gasp was one that genuinely hurt his cheeks. 

“ _Michael_ , you didn't...” but Gavin was excitedly rushing over to the carrier, sliding onto his knees in front of it.

“You wanted a cat, Gavin. You never wanted to admit it, but I knew, so, Merry Christmas.”

Gavin was practically squealing as he opened the door and gently took the little kitten out. “Oh, Michael, he's adorable,” he said, stroking his head. Michael sat down next to them on the floor and also began petting the kitten, scratching behind his ears a little. 

“Yeah, I know. When I saw him, I knew he was the one.”

Gavin smiled at him and leaned in closer to whisper, “Michael,  _you're_ the one.” Michael snorted at that, but he didn't get to say anything in response because Gavin cut him off with a kiss. 

 


	8. Decorating Should NOT Be This Difficult

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basically the guys try decorating the house for Christmas. _Try_. (Ahot6)

Gavin almost didn't manage to catch all of the unboxed string lights that Geoff had tossed at him. Geoff couldn't help but laugh at Gavin's wide eyes and sigh of relief.

“You could have given me these while they were still in their boxes, you know?” Gavin reminded Geoff as he turned on his heel to start heading towards the front door.

“Yeah, so you could end up breaking them while getting them out like you did last year?”

Gavin merely shot a glare at Geoff instead of an actual response.

“But Geoff, you have to keep in mind that handing the lights to him like this can only lead to him tangling himself in them,” Michael said as he walked up beside Gavin and started to pull the lights away.

“Oh, shit,” Geoff laughed out, “I didn't even think of that. Good thing you're taking them from him.” With that, he walked out of the spare bedroom to meet up with Jack in the living room where he was sure Jack was still trying to find the _perfect_ spot for the tree.

“I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have tangled myself in them, Michael; I'm not a child,” Gavin told Michael.

“That doesn't stop you from acting like one sometimes,” and although Michael sounded a little harsh saying that, he did smile sweetly at Gavin and Gavin wasn't able to resist smiling back.

Walking into the living room, Geoff halted in his tracks to find pine needles scattered everywhere on the tile floor. He looked up to find Jack and Ryan holding up the tree as they attempted to place it onto the Christmas tree stand that was clumsily placed in the corner of the room.

“Alright, come on... steady... steady...” Jack was telling Ryan as Ryan backed up slowly.

“Are these idiots serious?” Geoff asked himself as he averted his eyes, not wanting to see what might happen.

“I know, right?” Ray's appeared next to him, causing Geoff to jump a little and look at him. Ray was holding a box filled with ornaments and just about anything else someone could put on a Christmas tree. “I've been waiting forever for these assholes to get that tree up. I _almost_ went for a walk to pass time.”

“Mother fuck!” Michael shouted from the hallway, followed by a loud thump.

Geoff and Ray looked over their shoulders and listened to Michael shouting at Gavin about how he _told_ him he was going to end up tangling himself in the stupid lights. There was ruffling, lots of it, more cursing, then some giggles which were probably from Gavin, and then the two entered the living room. They were both holding onto the string lights – Michael with an irritated expression and Gavin looking both guilty, yet amused.

“Having fun, you two?” Geoff asked.

“ _Tons_ ,” Michael sarcastically answered before stomping towards the door. Gavin quickly went after him like a lost puppy, trying not to trip over some of the lights they were dragging on the floor.

Geoff shook his head once they walked out. “I don't understand why this is turning out to be more of a disaster than a fun thing,” he told Ray.

“We told you we didn't want to do any of this!” Ryan said from where he and Jack were just about to succeed in placing the tree.

“There's no turning back now, Ryan,” Jack mumbled.

Geoff and Ray merely continued to watch the sight of two grown men struggling with a pine tree. At least it was humorous to see how much pine needles were stuck in Ryan's hair when he stepped away.

“There!” Jack shouted cheerfully. “It's done! It's up. We did it, Ryan.”

Ryan huffed but then grinned when looked back at it. “We picked a really nice tree, too.”

“It wouldn't have mattered how the tree looked; it's going to die anyway,” Ray said as he started walking up to it with the box.

Ryan folded his arms across his chest as he stared at Ray with furrowed eyebrows. “What a way to think.”

“It's my only way, Ryan.”

Jack let out a small laugh and shook his head as he began picking the pine needles out of Ryan's hair. Ryan sighed and stood still as he allowed Jack to help him out. Seeing that these guys now, hopefully, had the living room covered, Geoff decided to go outside and check on Michael and Gavin. The two boys had barely found a ladder and were now arguing about who was going to go up and who was going to stand by on the bottom and pass the lights up.

“I think you should, Michael,” Gavin urged. “You'd probably do a better job at it.”

“You just want the easy job!” Michael shouted.

“Well, so do you!”

“Yeah, but... I don't want to go up the ladder. I'm, uh, scared of heights and stuff.”

Gavin squinted his eyes at Michael. “No, you aren't! I would have known this by now!”

“It's because it's not really something I like to just _tell_ people. I mean, I wanted you guys to think of me as the brave one, even though that's probably Geoff, but maybe it's Ryan, but it sure as hell wouldn't be you or Ray.”

“Michael,” Gavin cooed, placing a hand on Michael's shoulder, “I still think of you as brave.”

“That- I don't care! Just go up there!”

Geoff sighed loudly, gaining both of their attentions. They smiled innocently at Geoff and Geoff rolled his eyes.

“Any day now, boys,” he said to them, gesturing towards the ladder.

“Geoff, I can't do this with him; he won't go up there and I'm scared of heights. This just isn't working!” Michael whined, ignoring Gavin who was gaping at him.

“I'll do it, then,” Geoff told him as he stepped forward. “Gavin, you can go back inside and help Ray out with the ornaments.”

Gavin nodded and practically skipped back into the house, leaving Geoff to climb up the ladder and Michael secretly thankful. Michael _loved_ doing things with Gavin, but he just felt a bit safer doing this with Geoff instead.

Jack and Ryan were now sitting down on the couch, feeling exhausted after all that work with the tree and they hardly acknowledge when Gavin walked in.

Ray noticed, though, and smiled at him. “Hey, man. You and Michael done already?”

“Nah, Geoff's helping him now,” Gavin replied, hurrying over to Ray. “I came to join you with this.” He pulled out an ornament from the box and placed it on tree.

“Good, because I was getting bored doing this alone,” Ray admitted and Gavin laughed a little.

Things actually seemed to going well, no trouble in sight, until Ray and Gavin both turned around at the same time and ran right into each other. That wouldn't have been a problem, except they had handfuls of ornaments in their hands and the crash had caused them to drop them, and the ornaments immediately shattered. Ryan and Jack sat up abruptly at the sound as the boys jumped back.

“How do you guys... just, _how_?” Ryan asked.

“Oh, you guys were doing so well, too,” Jack told them.

Gavin and Ray laughed nervously.

“Alright, make sure the ladder doesn't move, Michael,” Geoff kept reminding Michael – this had been the fifteenth time, too.

“I _know,_ Geoff,” Michael sternly responded.

“Okay, I'm about to get down to move it a little to the right; just keep it still until I'm on the ground.”

Michael nodded and watched how Geoff finished getting part of the lights up on that certain spot, but then Michael was startled by the neighbor's dog barking at him. He spun around, completely letting go of the ladder, and watching as the dog slowly stepped on their lawn.

“Fuck,” Michael muttered under his breath, but thinking fast, he crouched down a bit and held his hands in front of him. “Hey there, dog. Be a good boy and _stay_.”

“I'm coming down, Michael,” Geoff told him, beginning to do so without waiting for a response. 

The dog growled and ran full speed towards Michael. Michael screamed and as he took off in the direction of the door, his shoulder bumped into the ladder, but he was too distracted by the fact that a dog was trying to  _kill_ him to pay attention to the pain in his shoulder and the fact that Geoff was now tumbling down with that ladder. 

“Michael!” Geoff shrieked and that was enough to frighten the dog away and off their lawn. 

Once Geoff was on the ground, Michael had reached the door, but remembering about Geoff, he turned around and his eyes widened.

“Fuck! Geoff, I'm sorry!” Michael cried as he ran back over to the man's side. As he tried lifting Geoff up, Geoff held up a hand to stop him. 

“We are _not_ going to talk about this. We're just going to go back inside, okay?”

Michael's eyebrows twitched together, but feeling bad about this whole situation, he nodded and agreed. Geoff slowly got himself up and Michael helped him walk back inside since he was kind of limping. 

“At least our living room will look nice-” but Geoff quickly cut himself off when they entered the house and saw the others gathered around the tree, attempting to quickly clean up broken pieces of the ornaments. 

“It's fine, it's fine,” Jack repeated over and over as Ray went on about how much of a mess they made. 

Gavin jumped up to go grab the broom when he noticed Michael and Geoff. “Oh, bollocks,” he breathed out, and the others stopped what they were doing to look.

“It's not what it looks like!” Ray assured Geoff and Ryan nodded. 

Geoff and Michael exchanged looks before Geoff simply said, “Let's just eat. I'm starving.”

 


	9. Road Trip

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Joel decided it would be a great idea to go on a mini road trip with Ray to kick off the holidays. The original plan was to get home by Christmas even. Although, not everything goes as planned.

This whole road trip thing was just one of Joel's ideas of spending alone time with Ray while also doing something they would probably both enjoy. Ray wasn't quite keen on the idea at first, because a road trip? Meaning he had to sit in a car for hours at time until they reached destination to destination? That didn't sound anywhere near fun, at least not the kind of fun he wanted to be having during this time of the year.

“If you get bored after a few days, then fine, we'll go back,” Joel had told him the day they officially started packing for this trip.

“And where exactly are we even going?” Ray asked, practically tossing in clothes into his bag instead of folding them and neatly placing them inside like Joel was doing with his clothes.

“Uh... well, you see, I figured we would stop at wherever looked interesting and just keep on going afterward.”

Ray stopped packing to stare at Joel, waiting for him to say “I'm kidding” and be serious with explaining where they were really going, but Joel wasn't looking back at him.

“Wait, you're not kidding,” Ray stated as he crossed his arms. “You're actually _not_ kidding.”

Joel finished putting in the last pair of jeans into his suitcase and sighed. “Why would I kid around about this?” He finally looked his boyfriend in the eyes.

“What the hell? What kind of a road trip doesn't have a plan?” Ray questioned him instead of answering.

“There _is_ a plan!”

“That's not a plan!”

“Does it matter?”

“Well,” Ray spoke, running his fingers through his hair, “you telling me where we were going was going to be the key in making me to go with a smile, but now I'm kind of worried about how this is going to turn out.” Joel smiled softly as he walked over to him.

“Don't you trust me?” He asked, his voice gentle and his eyes widening in such an innocent way.

“That's what someone who's about to murder their lover would ask,” Ray replied, yet he couldn't help but laugh when Joel gaped at him. “I'm kidding! No, I do think this won't be so bad, so... let me just finish packing and we can go to sleep and get on the road first thing tomorrow.”

Joel's smile slowly returned as he nodded. Since he had finished, he decided to just help Ray finish up filling his bag instead.

And in the morning, it took almost _everything_ for Joel to drag Ray out of bed. He tried persuading him with food, but Ray would just mumble about how he can eat when he really wakes up. Joel attempted to literally _drag_ Ray off the bed, but Ray managed to hold on. The next thing to do was to make all sorts of noises that would push Ray to edge to where he would have no choice but to get up. That _still_ didn't work, because it seemed even the loudest of noises couldn't get Ray to budge.

Joel was about to run out of ideas and cancel the trip completely, until the silliest attempt came to mind. He left the bedroom to go retrieve what he would need and when Ray noticed it was much too quiet, he lifted his head and looked around the room.

“Joel?!” He called out, but it came out lazy and not quite as loud as he wanted. There was no response. Either Joel didn't hear him or he was up to something, and that last part didn't sound good. Joel was very capable of plenty of things. That was almost enough to get Ray out of bed, but then he heard footsteps coming back so he let his head fall back onto the pillow and he shut his eyes tightly.

“Alright, Ray, you've left me no choice,” Joel said as he got closer to Ray's side of the bed.

Ray groaned and tried waving Joel away, but when he felt a splash of water on his face, he was up in an instant, gasping for air.

“Are you serious?!” He shouted, frantically wiping his face, and all he could hear was Joel's laughter. Ray blinked a few times before turning his head and glaring at him.

“At least I didn't have to use the whole bucket,” Joel said after regaining himself, setting said bucket down and taking a deep breath. “You should have seen your face.”

“Yeah, yeah... you're an asshole.”

After drying off and changing, Ray and Joel grabbed their things, including all other necessities they would need, and headed towards Joel's car outside. Ray's eyes were begging for more sleep, so the second he sat down in the passenger, everything already securely put into the back, he settled in and allowed his eyes to close. Joel glanced at him and shook his head before turning his attention forward and turning on the car. They had a good five days until Christmas eve and he knew that was a decent amount of time for their first short trip together.

The first hour was spent with Ray peacefully asleep and Joel sitting back, driving without a problem while he listened to music. The road was pretty empty for eight in the morning, but Joel wasn't going to complain when he despised traffic. He didn't need anything slowing him down.

The second hair, Ray woke up and stared out the window, momentarily confused as to why he was even in a car, but as it started coming back to him, he faced Joel with a smile.

“Alright, where are we?” He asked.

“We are just about to reach Brownwood,” Joel answered, almost wanting to roll his eyes when Ray made a little noise, obviously amused by the City's name. “It's Brown County, Ray.”

“I didn't say anything,” Ray mumbled with a shrug.

As Joel drove closer to the city's welcome sign, Ray sat up and pointed out.

“Let's stop here and see what Brownwood has to offer,” he said.

Joel wanted to ask him if he was serious, but considering they had no real destinations, he nodded and made a turn into what looked to be downtown. There was a spot where parking was allowed and Joel quickly parked his car there. The place was pretty simple, just an ordinary little city that seemed cozy enough, and the people seemed friendly, that was for sure. But it didn't take the couple long to grow bored after walking down a few sidewalks that they hurried back to their car and drove off.

Ray ended up coming up with an idea – a game of sorts – where they would see how many places they could stop at and see before the sun went down. They were surprised to find that it really wasn't that difficult, especially since they didn't bother staying long anywhere. If they reached a city by night, they would merely stay there in any hotel they could find with decent service to sleep so they could wake up and do it all over again.

When they made it to Munday (too bad it was a _Sunday_ when they got there), Ray found himself checking how far they were from Austin.

“Ray, it's been almost three days and since we've stopped _everywhere,_ we're not even more than five hours away from home,” Joel assured him.

“Yeah, alright,” Ray sighed. He just did want to make sure they were back by Christmas eve, because he had made a promise to go to the big Holiday party Burnie was throwing that day, and his mom was also going to be there to spend Christmas with him. He didn't want to miss any of that.

So, they were less than five hours away from home, or at least they _were_ in the beginning of that day. They hadn't stopped much during the day, probably only to use the restroom and eat a few times, so that led to them driving further than they anticipated and when they ended up in Perryton, approximately over eight hours away from Austin, Ray was a bit peeved.

“Knowing you, you're not gonna wanna drive all the way back tomorrow,” he grumbled as they walked into their hotel room and dropped his bag off to the side.

“Hey, we'll make it back, okay? We just won't stop anymore, or only stop for food like we did today, and it'll be fine,” Joel told him, walking over and sitting down on the bed.

Ray shook his head. “I'm going to take a shower.” He grabbed a few clothes to change into and a towel before rushing into the bathroom.

Joel sighed loudly once he heard the water running and allowed himself to fall back until he was staring up at the ceiling. He could drive for eight hours without a problem, so he didn't know why Ray was worrying at all. Besides, it was only Monday now and they had all of Tuesday to make it back to Austin, so things were going to go according to this plan he just made up.

Or not... because apparently _everything_ in the world didn't want plans to go well.

When they woke in the morning and got their stuff back into the car, they heard the news of snow coming in. Joel said it wasn't going to be anything to worry about, and it wasn't. The actual problem was the traffic they ended up encountering since _everyone_ else was trying to head home before Christmas as well.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Joel asked, mainly to himself as he kept his voice down, but Ray heard him and rolled his eyes.

“ _Great_.”

“No, Ray, we're fine! We'll make it back.”

“Yeah, sure.”

“No, stop with that attitude. It's not Wednesday yet and we've been on the road for...” Joel paused as he checked the time and he almost groaned out loud, “... twenty minutes.”

“Mhm,” Ray nodded, though he sounded beyond annoyed. 

“Well, it's barely ten in the morning, so yeah, we'll be fine.”

“But my mom is coming at around this time tomorrow and I don't wanna be fucking exhausted when I see her.”

“You're not driving, Ray! You can just sleep in here!”

“How can I sleep for more than one hour with your driving skills?! I swear it's always wobbly in here!”

“Oh, well, if you can't appreciate my driving techniques then maybe _you_ should drive!” 

“I don't have a license!”

“Then shut up!”

Ray huffed and crossed his arms as he stared out the window. This traffic was moving terribly slow; it was like they were simply parked in the freeway. Was this while trip even worth it? They didn't even  _do_ anything. The most they did was walk around an entire city until their feet were in pain and they were practically crying on the way back to the car because they were just so exhausted. They stopped at a few stores here and there for souvenirs, but really, why would Ray ever want a stupid keychain that had another Texas city name on it? There was no use for them, yet he had about twenty five of them now, because Joel had convinced him. 

They should have stayed home and just found ways to spice up their sex life since even  _that_ sounded better than having to sit in a car for eight damn hours, or possibly twelve, because this traffic wasn't going to be done anytime soon. 

But instead of saying all of that to Joel, Ray was quiet and didn't bother looking at him for the next few hours. 

Around lunch time, Joel parked outside of a small diner and despite the fact that Ray still wasn't talking to him, Joel smiled as they walked in together. Their waitress could sense the tension and seemed nervous as she took their orders; she was quick about it, too, as to not aggravate Ray further. After the food was eaten, Joel told Ray he was going to pay and Ray didn't say a thing about it as he got up and headed outside.

This wasn't how this trip was supposed to end. 

They were back on the road, now with a little over six hours to go, but the traffic was still there. Perfect. Since Ray continued his silent treatment, Joel finally spoke up.

“You know, the first time I went on a road trip, it was with Jack,” he began, “Man and if you think having to stay in an office with that guy all day is bad, you have no idea of the horrors it is to be in a car for _days_ with him.” He laughed at his own little story, hoping to make Ray crack a smile, but Ray merely shook his head. 

The worst part about Winter was the fact that the sun went down far too fast and still being on the road when it was dark felt dreadful. Joel wanted to take a break and stay at another hotel, because all of this driving was getting to him. But they only had four hours to go... only four. He could do this... he could-

“Hey,” Ray said, much to Joel's surprise, “I'm sorry. I hope you don't think I didn't have fun... I mean, I kind of didn't, if I'm being honest, but I don't think I would have been able to do this with anyone else. I'm glad it was you. I think you're the only one who can make do stupid shit like this.” 

The corners of Joel's lips rose slightly, but he kept his eyes on the road. “I'm sorry that I didn't plan this whole thing out, and I'm sorry that there seems to be fucking traffic every hour and I'm sorry that I'm driving slower than I need to, but I'm tired and I'm sorry.”

“Then stop driving.”

Joel's eyebrows twitched together as he glanced at Ray. “Stop driving? But then we'll make it later-”

“It's okay if don't get back until tomorrow morning. You're tired and I'm tired of sitting in this car, so let's just stop at another hotel and relax for the night.”

“We only have four more hours-”

“So, we'll get up at six and be back in Austin right on time for my mom.” Joel wasn't sure what to think of this, but judging by the serious and genuinely caring look on Ray's face, he knew it was best to just go with that plan. 

With a nod, he said, “Yeah, okay. I think I saw a sign about a motel coming up in the next mile or two.”

The motel wasn't glamorous, but they didn't expect any better out of it. Ray was just relieved to be sitting on something slightly more comfortable than that passenger seat, so he crawled onto the bed while Joel stood by and stretched.

“I hope you aren't doing that on purpose,” Ray commented as he stared up at Joel.

Joel raised an eyebrow and put his arms down. “Why would I be doing that on purpose-” though he cut himself off when he took in the smirk on Ray's face. Slowly, he grinned and got onto the bed next to Ray, scooting closer until there was little to no room between them. 

“I don't think I could tell you how sorry I am,” Joel whispered to him, but Ray shook his head as he leaned in and pressed his lips against Joel's. Joel sighed into the kiss, bringing his hand up to rest on Ray's cheek. He honestly couldn't even remember the last time he had kissed him, but it felt so good, and to make it even better, Ray was determined to make this kiss anything but gentle. 

He started to bit down on Joel's lower lip, feeling a rush of satisfaction when Joel let out a noise of pleasure. He brought his own hand up to hold onto Joel's wrist, but then he pulled Joel's hand away from his face and let it rest on his hip instead. Joel smiled against Ray's lips, but when Ray pulled back suddenly, he pouted a bit.

Ray let out a small laugh. “I love you, Joel,” he said under his breath and before Joel could try to respond, Ray was kissing him again. 

 


	10. Secret Santa

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the gang decides to do secret Santa and Gavin's pretty much annoyed with the whole idea, but Ryan gives him a reason not to be so bitter. (Freewood with a little hint of Raychael)

Secret Santa was something Gavin never really found himself interested in. It was usually due to the fact that he was worried he would end getting someone he honestly knew nothing about. Normally this wouldn't be an issue if it was going to be within his close friend group – Michael, Ray, Ryan, Geoff, Griffon, Barbara, Arryn, Lindsay, and Kara – and altogether, that would have made an equal even number for the secret Santa to work, but then Barbara suggested they asked others to participate. Everyone agreed, except for Gavin and Ryan.

“We don't even know anyone else that well, though,” Ryan told them.

“Yeah, exactly! What would we get them?” Gavin asked.

“Of course you two would be the ones complaining about this. It's like you two were _made_ for each other,” Michael teased and Ray laughed.

“Kind of like you two were meant for each other,” Lindsay said as she pointed to Michael and Ray, but they merely smirked at her.

“The added people will just be Kerry, Miles, Kdin, and Jack, so it's not like they're complete strangers,” Barbara assured Gavin and Ryan. Ryan nodded, because he did know Jack quite well, or at least, well enough, but Gavin sulked deeper into his seat. He still didn't have a good feeling about this.

It was during the next day at lunch when Arryn walked up to their usual table with a Santa hat. Michael was in the middle of finishing off his hilarious story about how his brother managed to fall down the stairs while holding some of the presents. Part of the humor was that his parents actually cared more for the presents than if his brother was alright or not, but after inspecting each present and seeing that little to no damage came to them, they turned to his brother and helped him up. Everyone laughed as Michael finished off the story and Arryn took the opportunity to clear her throat, grabbing their attention.

“In this hat,” she held up said hat, “I have put in all of our names, including Kdin's, Miles', Jack's, and Kerry's.” Gavin almost groaned in annoyance, but he kept a smile on his face as Arryn told everyone to pull out a piece of paper and don't tell anyone else who they got.

Lindsay was the first to reach her hand in and when she saw whose name was written on it, she grinned and folded it back up. Michael was going to be simple to shop for. Next was Ray, who was glad he got Barbara, because before they even decided to do Secret Santa, he already knew what he wanted to get her when he saw it at the mall. Barbara picked out Kerry's name, Michael got Ryan, and Ryan actually got Gavin, which was close to making him laugh because that was lucky. Kara pulled out Griffon's name, Griffon got Kara, Geoff got Jack, and Arryn decided to go next, hardly able to wipe the smile off her face when she read Miles' name, because she possibly had a small crush on him. Gavin was the last one to go at the table, so with a long sigh, he reached his hand in and unfolded the paper slowly.

“Bollocks,” he breathed out when he read Kdin's name. He only talked to Kdin _once_ before. What the hell was he supposed to get him for Christmas? This was exactly what he didn't want to happen.

“Okay! Now that you guys are done, I'm going to go find the others and let them pick the remaining names!” Arryn cheerfully said as she headed off.

“Well, I'm excited,” Barbara squealed, clapping her hands.

“Yeah, I think I know what I'm going to get my person,” Michael said.

“Me too,” Lindsay added, trying to hide her grin.

Gavin was frowning and noticing that, Ryan wrapped an arm around him.

“Come on, cheer up,” he told him, giving him a gentle squeeze. “It won't be _too_ bad.”

“You probably got Michael or Ray, then, so it's not going to be difficult for you at all,” Gavin grumbled.

Ryan held back the smile daring to form on his face. “Uh, no, I didn't get them, because the person I _did_ get might be somewhat of a challenge.” That would have made him laugh, but he was doing well with keeping it together and Gavin didn't catch on.

 

* * *

 

Everyone had to go shopping on their own to not have to give away who got who, even if it wasn't each other. Gavin wanted to make sure he got something decent for Kdin, but he needed to get to know him better. He tried talking to him a bit more in the class they shared together, but Kdin almost ended up in a more indulged conversation with Ray or that Kerry guy. So, Gavin tried the next best thing – eavesdropping. Okay, apparently Kdin was fond of Nintendo, specifically the older games and consoles. That did help a little, or well, it helped Gavin enough to get somewhat of an idea.

But damn, he still despised having to do this at all.

So after school one day, he went to the mall and walked into the old video game store to pick out something for Kdin. He wasn't sure what Kdin did or didn't have, but he figured he couldn't go wrong with a few figurines. He got one of a few characters he heard Kdin mention to Ray and headed up to the cashier.

“Will that be all?” The cashier asked and Gavin nodded as he looked away while the cashier rang everything up.

Passing by the store outside was Ryan and Gavin immediately gasped.

“Babe!” He called out, loud enough for Ryan to furrow his eyebrows and look around, because anyone could be calling for their specific other, but that accent sounded much too familiar. Ryan looked into the game store and his eyes widened when he saw Gavin waving at him.

“Oh, crap,” Ryan mumbled as he glanced down at the bag he was holding.

Gavin quickly paid and grabbed his stuff before hurrying out to meet up with his boyfriend, not even questioning, thankfully, when Ryan causally hid the bag behind him.

“I thought you said you were going to be busy at home,” Gavin said once he reached him.

Ryan smiled as Gavin leaned up a little and gently kissed him. “Yeah, but uh... I... got out of it, so I decided to just come by the mall and pick out the gift for secret Santa.”

Gavin's face practically lightened up entirely. “Who did you get? And what did you get them?” He started to try peeking behind Ryan, but Ryan stepped back.

“I'm not telling you.”

“Why not?”

“You might tell them!”

“I won't!”

Ryan narrowed his eyes at Gavin and Gavin rolled his.

“I promise I won't,” he tried, but Ryan shook his head. “Okay, fine! But since you're here, do you think you could give me a ride home?” Ryan sighed at that, but he agreed, because he hated the thought of Gavin walking home alone. The two held hands and intertwined fingers on their way out of the mall, but Ryan couldn't help but feel a little nervous about Gavin catching a glance at what he was holding in the other. Of all the people he could have ran into at the mall, it had to be Gavin.

Luckily, Gavin pretty much forgot about the gift by the time they got to Ryan's car.

 

* * *

 

The secret Santa exchange took place on their last day at school before Winter break. Each of them arrived with their neatly wrapped gifts, even Gavin managed to wrap Kdin's present with the help from his mom. He sighed as he set it down on the lunch table, because the relief of having this over with was lovely. They all ate and finished their lunch before Lindsay and Arryn stood up to start.

“Okay, Lindsay, you first,” Arryn told her with a smile.

Lindsay nodded and handed the small bag over to Michael. Michael's eyes brightened as he took it from her.

“Oh, shit. _You_ were my secret Santa? Well, I know whatever's in here's here then,” he said, making her laugh a bit. Michael went ahead and slid the gift down to Ryan who grinned and thanked him, but Ryan wanted to wait to give Gavin his gift last, so Arryn went next. She passed her gift over to Miles with a shy smile, then Miles to Geoff, Geoff to Kerry, and so on until everyone, but Gavin, had a present in front of them. Gavin was a little hesitant when he had handed Kdin his gift, but they smiled at each other and that was that.

“Okay, so where's Gavin's gift?” Arryn asked after a moment and Gavin raised his eyebrows, because he had honestly not even noticed he didn't have a present in front of him yet.

Ryan reached behind him and placed it onto the table, giving Gavin a warm smile that made Gavin gape at him.

“I hope this makes you feel better about this whole thing,” Ryan whispered to him and Gavin felt at a loss for words as he continued to just _stare_ at his boyfriend. Ryan eventually leaned in closer and placed a quick kiss on Gavin's forehead.

“That's why you didn't want...” Gavin trailed off, but Ryan knew what he was referring to.

“Obviously.”

“Gavin got his own boyfriend as his secret Santa. Now who the hell let that happen?” Ray asked, receiving a nudge from Michael but Ray merely faced him with an innocent smile.

“Let's just open our gifts now!” Barbara said, clearly too curious about what was inside this rather large box in front of her.

“Okay, one... two... three... go!” Kara shouted and everyone began unwrapping.

Gavin suddenly felt like a child on Christmas morning as he pulled out the tissue paper from his gift from Ryan and reached in to grab whatever was inside. Ryan waited for Gavin to see what it was before he opened his from Michael. He needed to see Gavin's exact reaction to it. Gavin raised an eyebrow questioningly when he took out the the frame, but only because he was looking at the back of it. Once he turned it around and saw that it was a framed photo of his first picture with Ryan, the corners of his lips slowly rose.

“Ryan, this is-”

“There's something else in the bag,” Ryan cut him off, gesturing towards the bag for Gavin to look again.

Gavin gasped and set the photo down to do so and when he pulled out a ring box, Ryan explained, “It's a promise ring, because maybe something's wrong with me, but I actually do want our relationship to stay serious, because I am serious about you.” Gavin felt heat rush to his cheeks as he opened up the box to reveal the silver band, but when he took it out, he noticed an engraving inside that read “Ryan & Gavin”.

“This is incredible,” Gavin said under his breath and Ryan smiled softly. He was going to say something back, but he was interrupted by Gavin throwing himself at him.

 


	11. Christmas Dinner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Joel is alone for Christmas and Ray wants to do something special for him.

This was going to Joel's first Christmas alone and knowing that, Ray spent the week before Christmas trying to come up with the best way to cheer him up for it. He honestly wasn't sure if Joel needed any cheering up for this, because he didn't look upset about it, but Ray wanted to make sure, because he was a good friend. It definitely wasn't due to the fact that he had this sort of crush on the guy. No, of course not! Okay, maybe a little... It was a good excuse to show Joel how he felt while also making Joel smile.

The problem was, Ray had never considered himself the romantic type; he had _no_ idea what he could do that wouldn't come off trying too hard or not even trying. He considered himself lucky that he knew of a particular couple that often did little (disgusting) romantic things for each other most of the time. So he decided to call one half of that couple one day.

“Hi, Ray,” Michael answered, muting his TV to give his full attention to his friend.

“Hey, you know how I told you the other day about how I wanted to do something for Joel?”

Michael raised his eyebrows and sat up a little. “Yeah, I do, but I didn't think you would actually do something. Huh... well, what's the plan?”

“I got nothing,” Ray answered in defeat.

Michael rolled his eyes. “Which is why you're calling me, right?”

“Damn, have I ever told you how smart you were?”

“Yeah, shut up. I'll be right over so we can discuss this properly.”

“Awesome. See you soon, then,” Ray hung up the phone call and took a deep breath, because just slightly talking about it with Michael already had him feeling... nervous? Excited? He couldn't tell since both of those emotions made his stomach feel funny. In the time it took Michael to get to Ray's apartment, Ray actually cleaned up around a little to distract himself, but once there was a knock at his door, he dropped what he was ready to put away and hurried to answer.

Michael stood on the other side with a smile on his face because he could see the eagerness in Ray's eyes. It wasn't something he saw everyday, so Michael knew this meant Ray was seriously smitten with Joel. Ray understood what was running through Michael's mind from that smile and he shook his head before moving aside and allowing him in.

“Alright, you know you can go simple and just get him something you know he really wants,” Michael told Ray as he headed towards the couch. Ray closed the door and sighed.

“Yeah, but I feel like that's _too_ simple and probably expected of anyone, so I wanna be... different.”

“Only the best for Joel, right?”

Ray didn't answer that and instead, he walked over to join Michael on the couch. “He doesn't have a tree up in his place, so I was thinking I could surprise him and decorate-”

“That includes _being_ at his house when he's not there and how easy does that sound to you?” Michael asked, raising his eyebrows and narrowing his eyes at Ray.

Ray groaned and nodded. “Yeah, you're right.”

“Luckily, I do have a decent plan that you could do.”

“What are you waiting for then? Tell me!”

Michael laughed. There was that eagerness, but now it was showing through Ray's tone, and that was adorable.

“Just waiting for you to stop talking so I can,” Michael teased, but he went on to say it, “I figured cooking him up a nice dinner that you and him could eat on Christmas, because I heard him saying he was going to go to whatever diner was open that night. You can surprise him by showing up at his door with a dinner already made for him, and you guys can just enjoy it together.” Ray's eyes were wide with excitement. He was loving that idea, he was, yes he was... oh, but there was a problem.

“Dude, I can't for shit,” he reminded Michael. “I mean, simple crap that anyone can make, but nothing someone would want to have as their _Christmas_ dinner. Learning how to cook fancy things never crossed my mind because I'm just living here alone with no one to cook for me but myself.”

“This is where you thank everything good in the world that you have a friend like me who _does_ know how to cook and _will_ help you.”

Ray parted his lips and faced forward. Michael furrowed his eyebrows as Ray clasped his hands together and closed his eyes.

“What are you doing-” but Michael was cut off by Ray mumbling.

“Thank everything good in the world that I have a friend like Michael,” Ray opened his eyes and put his hands down to look at Michael again. “No wonder Gavin can't get enough of you.”

The corners of Michael's lips rose into a grin and he gently shoved Ray. “Shut the fuck up.” Ray smiled back at him. “Now, let's just decide on what we're gonna make.”

* * *

 

Joel had planned to go out at six and be home whenever he felt he had enough and wanted sleep, but that seemed like a good enough Christmas to him. He was in the middle of getting dressed into clothes that weren't sweats and a plain T-shirt when the doorbell rang, much to his surprise. He wasn't expecting anybody over, considering everyone had their own thing going on tonight. He finished putting on his belt before rushing out of his room and towards the door. He didn't even bother to check who it was and simply opened the door, finding Ray standing on the other side, a large dish in his hands and he was wearing a Santa hat.

“I don't want to sound rude to you by asking why are you here, but _why are you here_?” Joel questioned, raising an eyebrow at Ray.

Ray took a deep breath, trying to make those butterflies in his stomach before speaking, “I heard you were gonna be alone and go out to some shitty diner for dinner, so, I decided that since I'm _also_ alone, why not be alone together?” He held up the dish for Joel to get a better look of it. “I brought the food – chicken enchiladas. I hope you don't mind.”

Just the mention of the food had Joel's stomach growling and slowly, he smiled at Ray. “You did this for me?” He asked, sounding genuinely surprised and touched that Ray couldn't resist smiling as well.

“Y-yeah,” Ray breathed out. “I just... I figured you deserved a nice Christmas, one that involved homemade food and company, even if it is just me.” He laughed quietly and a bit nervously.

“If I'm spending this day with anyone, I'm glad it's with _you_ ,” Joel told him, sounding completely sincere that those butterflies came rushing back into Ray's stomach. Joel walked away from the door and Ray let himself in, closing the door behind him with his foot and he followed Joel into the kitchen. Joel turned around and gently took the dish from Ray's hands. 

“Thanks for this, Ray. It means a lot,” Joel whispered to him. 

Ray smiled softly and nodded. “Yeah, man... it was no-” he was cut off when Joel set the dish down on the counter and wrapped his arms around him. For a moment, Ray was unsure what to do, but his smile widened and finally, he returned the hug. “Merry Christmas, Joel.”

 


	12. I Love You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being that it's his first Christmas away from home, Michael isn't feeling all too happy. In an attempt to cheer him up, Geoff, Griffon, and Gavin invite him over to their house on Christmas eve. Although Gavin is having a hard time keeping his feelings for Michael in check.

Michael was actually looking forward to Christmas this year, because his mom had kept bragging about something special she was going to make for him and how she couldn't wait for him to come home to see what it was. Michael acted as though he wasn't curious or excited about it, but the way she talked about it made it almost impossible not to feel a little giddy. Everything would have gone as planned, except for the fact that Michael had forgotten to purchase his plane tickets ahead of time. That wasn't the biggest problem, but being a ticket at the last minute was more expensive than Michael could ever imagine, and he found that he could hardly afford it.

“There's no way you can give me a discount? I mean, come on, it's going to be Christmas,” he begged as he was on the phone with an employee at the airport.

“I'm sorry, sir, but that is exactly why we can't. There are _plenty_ of other people trying to get somewhere during this time, and they're willing to pay no matter what-” and Michael just hung up, not wanting to hear anymore of that bullshit.

He couldn't get home now, because he wasn't about to get into his car and drive there, not when he was unprepared and well, not up to driving for that long.

“God damnit,” he breathed out as he sat down on his bed. “God _damnit_!”

“Michael!” He heard Gavin call out cheerfully and for a moment, he was confused, but then he remembered that he had given Gavin a key to his apartment – it was a long story. Gavin would literally show up at the most random times and right now wasn't one of the best.

“I'm in here, Gavin,” Michael called back, sounding more than irritated. 

It didn't take too long for Gavin to appear in the doorway of his bedroom, smiling because he had all reason to, but it faltered slowly once he got a good look of the frown on Michael's face.

“Feeling down?” He asked, staying still in his spot. 

“Um, I guess. I don't know,” Michael mumbled in response.

“What's the matter?” 

Michael took a deep breath and allowed himself to fall back and lie down. Gavin made his way over and sat down on the edge of the bed, saying nothing as he stared at Michael. 

“Because I'm so _fucking_ stupid, I forgot to buy my plane ticket home ahead of time and now since it's three days before Christmas, the prices are up and I can't afford it,” Michael explained, letting out a drawn out whine. 

“Oh, well, I can help you pay for it,” Gavin offered. “Yeah! I'll pay half, or better yet, all of it, and you don't even have to pay me back. This can be like my Christmas gift to you... not that I didn't already have something else for you.”

Michael shook his head. “I couldn't let you do that.”

“Come _on,_ Michael. It's not a big deal.”

“But it is to me, Gavin. I can't let you help me with this, especially not without me paying you back eventually.”

“Fine, then pay me back whenever you can, but it doesn't matter how long it takes.”

“No.”

“Michael-”

“I said _no_! Okay?!” Michael suddenly shouted, sitting up abruptly but not facing Gavin. “So what if I won't be home for Christmas? Oh fucking well! There's always next year, and other damn holidays! It's not like it's the end of the world! I'll live.” He got up on his feet and was starting to head out of his room when something came to mind. He spun back around to meet Gavin's eye and with a glare, he said, “And don't you _fucking_ dare try buying a ticket and surprising me with it. I don't want it. So _please,_ Gavin. Don't.”

“Okay, okay. I won't. I promise.”

“You break it and I'll break you.”

“ _Okay_!”

Michael ran his fingers through his hair, knowing he needed to calm down because Gavin meant well. “I'm sorry, but I... I think I want to be alone right now.”

Gavin frowned as he nodded and stood up. “I'm sorry for coming-”

“No,” Michael shook his head, walking back up to Gavin and placing his hands on his shoulders. “No, Gav, it's okay. You're always welcomed here.”

Gavin's little smile returned and Michael forced himself to smile as well. They simply stared at each other for what felt like too long, especially to Gavin, who was currently fighting the urge to lean forward and close the space between their lips. 

“I guess I'll talk to you later?” Michael then spoke, causing Gavin's heart to come to a steady pace again. 

“Yes. Sorry your Christmas plans didn't work out.”

“It's okay.”

Gavin sighed as he stepped away from Michael, making Michael's hands practically fall off his shoulders, and then he quickly walked out of there. When he made it back to the Ramsey's, he found Geoff laughing about something with Griffon in the kitchen and since Gavin rushed in there, he caught them off guard. 

“Whoa, hey buddy,” Geoff greeted him, peeling himself away from the counter. 

“Geoff, we need to do something about Michael,” Gavin said in the most desperate tone Geoff and Griffon had ever heard.

“What do you mean?” Griffon asked.

“He's not going home for Christmas like he wanted to and he's _really_ upset about it. I think we should do something for him.”

Griffon smiled at Geoff until he understood what she was secretly telling him, and then she smiled at Gavin. “Well, we can always invite him over for Christmas eve when we do our little dinner.”

Gavin's eyes brightened. “That'd be perfect! I'll go call him right now and tell him,” and he hurried towards the living room before Geoff or Griffon could say anything more.

“We know well enough, but do you think he knows how much Michael means to him?” Geoff asked Griffon. 

“You know, I think he's _just_ now realizing it,” Griffon answered, smiling as she looked in the direction Gavin left in. 

 

* * *

 

It had taken some convincing (mostly Gavin begging and begging, saying how Christmas would be boring if Michael wasn't there), but Michael did finally end up agreeing to going over on Christmas eve. Gavin couldn't recall the last time he was this excited about a holiday, but on that morning, he was the first one up and showered, because he wanted to be sure to be ready before Michael arrived. Although, Michael wasn't supposed to come until dinner time, but just in case...

Gavin dressed in his best dress shirt, shoes, and jeans, and he was careful with styling his hair. Sheesh, he was acting as though he was going on same first date with someone. This wasn't a date, though; this was just a friend coming over to spend time with him, Geoff, and Griffon. It was no big deal, yet Gavin couldn't shake the nerves away. 

He was practically bouncing all around the house, frantically checking the time like he was going to miss something, and when the doorbell rang, he ran towards it.

“Relax, Gavin. You don't want to scare him off,” Geoff teased.

Gavin rolled his eyes and looked himself over quickly before opening the door. He grinned when he saw Michael standing on the other side, but that grin was then turned into him just gaping at Michael once he noticed his attire.

Michael was also wearing, what appeared to be, some of his best clothes – a black button down, dress shoes, and khakis. He was fidgeting with the top button of his shirt but stopped and smiled at Gavin. 

“Wow,” Gavin breathed out, his heart picking up speed in his chest. 

Michael raised an eyebrow. “You okay?”

“Oh... _yes_.” Gavin stepped aside to let Michael inside and Michael shrugged before doing so. He headed right towards the kitchen while Gavin stayed behind and leaned against the door with a sigh before following. 

After greeting were exchanged, Geoff began to serve everyone. Gavin stood next to Michael as he waited for his plate to be filled and he couldn't help but to stare at him.

“Gavin, dude, what's up with you?” Michael asked after a moment. 

“You look amazing, Michael,” Gavin answered, mainly out of his control, because that was only what he had been thinking, and it sort of just _came_ out. And when he realized it, his eyes widened and everyone turned to look at him.

Michael bit down on his lower lip as he felt a blush creeping up on his cheeks. “Uh, t-thanks. Yeah, you too.” Since Michael wasn't paying Geoff any attention, Geoff winked at Gavin and Gavin felt his throat go dry. 

“I will, uh, I will be right back,” he suddenly said as he put his plate down and took off. 

Michael blinked, debating whether to go after him or not, but seeing that Geoff and Griffon were equally as confused, he set his plate down as well and left. Gavin was just in the hallway, against the wall with his arms crossed.

“Gavin, what the hell happened?” He asked as he slowly approached him.

Gavin swallowed the lump in his throat and avoided eye contact. “I don't know, Michael. I just... I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable-”

“No, it's okay-”

“I don't know what came over me! I just couldn't stop looking at you because I think I... I think I love you, and it's weird, isn't it? We're best friends! I'm not supposed to be in love with you! But I am, I think, and it's... it's...” Gavin trailed off, feeling at a loss for words and not wanting to look at Michael, or at anything. “I just wanted today to be special for you, because you were really upset about not getting to see your family. I wanted you to have fun and I ruined it,” he managed to say in defeat. 

Since he was looking down at his feet, he didn't see the way Michael was smiling and walking up to him. The second Michael placed a hand on his shoulder, he jumped and locked eyes with him. 

“You love me?” Michael asked, his voice gentle and unable to speak, Gavin merely nodded. “Okay, good, because I've known that I've loved you for a long ass time now. I just didn't want to say anything, but why else do you think I'd give you a fucking key to my apartment?”

Gavin's eyebrows twitched together. “So that I could come over whenever I wanted to?”

“Yeah, but also because I wanted you to know how much I trust you.” Michael leaned in forward, making Gavin grin at him for a moment until their lips met and it was like not being able to go home for Christmas suddenly didn't seem so bad.

Well, Michael was still more than curious about what his mom had gotten him, but that would have to wait. At least he had Gavin now. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy holidays, everyone !!!!


End file.
